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Pandora To Edge Into Local Radio Advertising

3:44 p.m. · October 19, 2011 · by Matthew MacFarland

Pandora, the online radio service that now boasts more than 37 million active users, has grown large enough to challenge broadcast radio in certain local markets. At the Web 2.0 Summit, Pandora's chief executive Tim Westergreen explained that because so many listeners prefer personalized radio to traditional broadcast stations in a given locale, Pandora can attract the business of local advertisers. This seems mundane on the surface, but it could send shockwaves through traditional radio, which relies on ads for a large part of revenue. 

Pandora's library of 900,000 songs offers more variety than your average regular station. It's more pervasive than most radio broadcasting, too--Pandora can be found on tablets, smartphones, and even cars with the right software. 

Because Pandora is able to track the zipcodes of its users, it will be able to generate local advertising for its users. Like Facebook's personalized sidebar ads created from the information you supply to the site, these ads will apply directly to your location. But Pandora still plans to retain its subscription service, which for a fee removes all ads and provides higher-quality sound. 

The company also has expanded into comedy radio and may branch out to talk or sports radio in the future.  [Venture Beat via Daily Swarm]