Pandora to acquire music analytics firm Next Big Sound
Music streaming service Pandora has announced its plans to acquire online music analytics company Next Big Sound for an undisclosed amount.
Launched in 2009, Next Big Sound measures the popularity of songs online and on social media.
Pandora is counting on the company’s data tracking capabilities to help the music industry quantify the relationship between social media and revenue, understand the impact of marketing and promotional events such as press interviews, and establish prediction algorithms to identify potentially big artists at the earliest stage possible.
Brian McAndrews, CEO of Pandora, said: “The combination of Pandora’s listening data and Next Big Sound’s analytical capabilities will create a vital source of data.”
The company has its own analytics tool in place, called the ‘Artist Marketing Platform,’ which allows artists to see details about their music including what users are listening to and how they are listening to it.
According to Pandora, the site currently has nearly 80 million active users per month.