Pandora's Share Price Plunges as Apple Online Radio Negotiations Near Completion

Apple’s continued negotiations with record labels over the launch of an ad-driven internet radio service early next year sent shares of the Pandora internet radio service tumbling by 15%, leading to trading on the company to be halted.

Bloomberg is reporting that negotiations between Apple and major labels are likely to be concluded in mid-November, with Apple seeking licensing agreements that will allow users more flexibility in how users consume music. Pandora’s licensing agreement bars how many tracks a user can skip and limits how many times a particular artist can be played in an hour. Apple is also seeking earlier access to new album releases.

In addition to an upfront fee, labels are seeking a share of advertising revenue from the new service, and the ability to have their own advertisements included.
Apple is increasingly looking to advertising revenue as it competes with online advertising leviathan Google and according to Bloomberg, Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook is providing more flexibility to the company’s mobile advertising group in ad integration and the details on how data is shared with marketing partners.
A spokesman for Apple and various record labels declined to comment to Bloomberg on the matter.