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SiriusXM Is Acquiring Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal To Create the 'World's Largest Audio-Entertainment Company' (variety.com)

Posted by msmash on from the big-bets dept.

Sirius XM has agreed to buy online-music service Pandora for $3.5 billion, as the satellite-radio company looks to add streaming services in the increasingly competitive fight for listeners. From a report: According to the announcement, the deal will create "the world's largest audio-entertainment company," with more than $7 billion in projected revenue in 2018 and more than 100 million monthly listeners, combining SiriusXM's 36 million subscribers and Pandora's 70 million-plus monthly active users. It also moves SiriusXM and its parent company, Liberty Media, aggressively into the streaming market. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019 and is subject to approval by Pandora stockholders; expiration or termination of any applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and certain competition laws of foreign jurisdictions; and other customary closing conditions. On a call with analysts, Jim Meyer, Sirius XM's chief executive, said that the acquisition would enable Sirius to try to keep listeners who did not want to pay for music by diverting them toward Pandora's free ads-based model.

63 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. Ugh... by I+kan+Spl · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I guess it's time to cancel my Pandora subscription.

    Who else is around that is better?

    --
    My UID is prime and so is this number: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0.
    1. Re:Ugh... by olsmeister · · Score: 2

      Probably a good idea. I know with SiriusXM, every 6 months I have to call and ask to cancel my subscription (you cannot do it over the internet or any other way) in order for them to offer me a 1/2 price deal for the next 6 months. It's ridiculous.

    2. Re:Ugh... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      When I bought my last new vehicle, I got that deal twice and they never offered it again. On current new vehicle I got it once. I can't bring myself to pay $15/month for a radio that only works in my vehicle, especially since there is advertising on almost every channel.

      I do like Pandora at $5 a month because it works on all kinds of devices. I have a friend that had been working on her playlist for months.... I entered her favorite band into Pandora and had it make a playlist, and it had anticipated so many songs that she liked and had in her playlist she kept looking at her phone to confirm it wasn't playing from hers. So, let's hope SiriusXM doesn't destroy Pandora.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    3. Re:Ugh... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      If you pay $5 more per month you can stream the same channels online. That just makes it even more overpriced at that price point, though. They are saddled with the legacy of satellite launch costs in a world where people are now willing to stream over cellular. This is actually more expensive, but the cost of unlimited throttled bandwidth is somewhat hidden. If you have metered cellular, then you will not want to stream music while driving.

    4. Re:Ugh... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Pandora has an app, a website, and also links through surprising things such as Kodi and Squeezebox. I don't remember seeing SiriusXM though squeezebox or seeing a Kodi plugin.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    5. Re:Ugh... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      I do like Pandora at $5 a month because it works on all kinds of devices. I have a friend that had been working on her playlist for months.... I entered her favorite band into Pandora and had it make a playlist, and it had anticipated so many songs that she liked and had in her playlist she kept looking at her phone to confirm it wasn't playing from hers. So, let's hope SiriusXM doesn't destroy Pandora.

      Of all the streaming services, Pandora seems to handle multi-genre playlists better than the others.

      I'm still kind of surprised that Google and Spotify, with all they know about me and my listening habits, can't seem to figure out that I don't just listen to one genre of music, and why it's possible to like Bauhaus or New Order without liking Flock of Seagulls, or why I might want to hear guitarist Bill Frisell, but not Pat Methany. Or Muddy Waters but not B.B. King. What happened to those services from a decade ago that were going to be able to predict your taste from listening habits?

      Also, one problem all the streaming services have is that if I want to shuffle-play my 10,000 song playlist, I don't want to just hear the same 50 songs over and over. There's a reason I have a 10,000 song playlist.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    6. Re:Ugh... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Someone would have to develop those, and I'm sure it wasn't Pandora for the others. Low demand is certainly the cause here.

    7. Re:Ugh... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      If you pay $5 more per month you can stream the same channels online. That just makes it even more overpriced at that price point, though. They are saddled with the legacy of satellite launch costs in a world where people are now willing to stream over cellular. This is actually more expensive, but the cost of unlimited throttled bandwidth is somewhat hidden. If you have metered cellular, then you will not want to stream music while driving.

      Pandora uses surprisingly little data streaming. I have a 5 gig plan with my cellphone and play Pandora in my car (I switched from Sirius three or four months ago) I never come close to running out of data. If you're only on a gig or 2 a month or less... yeah, Pandora streaming might not be for you.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    8. Re:Ugh... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      And that's why I said:

      This is actually more expensive, but the cost of unlimited throttled bandwidth is somewhat hidden

    9. Re:Ugh... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      I'm not a Pandora shill.. But Pandora is the only one that considers the quality of a song. If you're listening to southern rock you might get a one-off cover of a song by a country artist. Other services seem to break it down in terms of genres, which i find really brutal because I might want to hear one country song because of the way it is, not because I like country. My favorite playlist on Pandora right now is one it made from all my thumbs-ups ever.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    10. Re:Ugh... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Right. And I just paid my cell phone bill. $40.59 for two phones, mostly on WiFi (and VoIP at home) and that's after taxes. The hidden cost of streaming is right on your phone bill.

    11. Re:Ugh... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Pandora has actually gotten worse at this over the years. I get a lot more repeats than new music. I prefer a wide variety.

    12. Re:Ugh... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      I do like Pandora at $5 a month because it works on all kinds of devices. I have a friend that had been working on her playlist for months.... I entered her favorite band into Pandora and had it make a playlist, and it had anticipated so many songs that she liked and had in her playlist she kept looking at her phone to confirm it wasn't playing from hers. So, let's hope SiriusXM doesn't destroy Pandora.

      Of all the streaming services, Pandora seems to handle multi-genre playlists better than the others.

      I'm still kind of surprised that Google and Spotify, with all they know about me and my listening habits, can't seem to figure out that I don't just listen to one genre of music, and why it's possible to like Bauhaus or New Order without liking Flock of Seagulls, or why I might want to hear guitarist Bill Frisell, but not Pat Methany. Or Muddy Waters but not B.B. King. What happened to those services from a decade ago that were going to be able to predict your taste from listening habits?

      Also, one problem all the streaming services have is that if I want to shuffle-play my 10,000 song playlist, I don't want to just hear the same 50 songs over and over. There's a reason I have a 10,000 song playlist.

      I liked LaunchCast circa 2000. It was ahead of its time great formula for finding new songs.

      My main problem with Pandora, if I have one is that it seems to keep picking the same songs for me. Even if start a new station with new seeds- they all always end up playing the same 200 songs or so.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    13. Re:Ugh... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Right. And I just paid my cell phone bill. $40.59 for two phones, mostly on WiFi (and VoIP at home) and that's after taxes. The hidden cost of streaming is right on your phone bill.

      Yeah... and it depends on how much data you have and how close you come to using it all.

      I use about 1GB streaming Pandora on my phone each month. That's probably listening to it over 4G for a little over an hour per weekday. (I skip songs A LOT- so probably use up more data than the average user). I have a 5GB plan and usually end the month with half my data left so streaming music doesn't cost me more (in terms of data).

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    14. Re:Ugh... by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 1

      where people are now willing to stream over cellular

      I realize I'm in the minority, but a couple of months I was on a roadtrip all over British Columbia. There were long stretches of the highway where there was no cellular data coverage, but where my SiriusXM worked fine.

    15. Re:Ugh... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      it depends on how much data you have and how close you come to using it all.

      Not really. You're still paying for that data. You could always pay for less.

      I rarely reach the 1GB threshold on my plan (which adds a few bucks to my bill) because of planning. I know exactly how much I'm spending.

    16. Re:Ugh... by dmomo · · Score: 1

      I have had the same experience. I finally just stopped taking that deal. I told salesperson, if this were not a deal, but were simply the normal price, I would still be on the fence about taking it. I simply don't like the service enough to value it at more than a few bucks a month. And even then, I'm weary of them billing me on a monthly basis.

    17. Re:Ugh... by olsmeister · · Score: 1

      If you click on 'cancel my subscription' online, you just get a phone # to call. That is the only way to cancel. I assume because they want to try to talk you out of it.

    18. Re:Ugh... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      My main problem with Pandora, if I have one is that it seems to keep picking the same songs for me. Even if start a new station with new seeds- they all always end up playing the same 200 songs or so.

      Yeah, for some reason, that's a problem with all the services. The only way it makes sense is if they have better royalty deals with certain publishers or artists than others, and try to encourage plays of their music over others.

      I cannot figure out why every single streaming service has trouble randomizing a 5,000 song playlist. Or a 500 song playlist, for that matter. I've even tried downloading my entire 5,000 song playlist, and when I hit shuffle, I can predict five of the first 10 songs I'll hear. That's unacceptable.

      I've raised this issue in the support forums, but they'll tell me that it's truly random and I should believe them and not my own ears for the past 10 years of almost daily listening. So now I've taken to try to fool their service into giving me varied music, by creating radio stations from varied playlists but that only works to a certain extent.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    19. Re:Ugh... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Well you could always pay $400 per speaker and get Apple devices with "multi-room support" (snicker)

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    20. Re:Ugh... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      We had bought our vehicle just before we drove from Saskathewan to New Brunswick. I was definitely happy we had the trial for that. If I was traveling all the time, I may consider it.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    21. Re:Ugh... by reboot246 · · Score: 1

      Also, depending on your service, you may or may not even have a signal when you're driving. There are still vast areas out there with little to no cell service.

      I have SiriusXM, but I practically live in my vehicle. I don't think it would be the right choice if you're not in your vehicle all the time.

    22. Re:Ugh... by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 1

      If you click on 'cancel my subscription' online, you just get a phone # to call. That is the only way to cancel. I assume because they want to try to talk you out of it.

      Yup. Each time I got a trial with a car I had to call and keep saying "No, just cancel my subscription" to some droid that kept upping the ante until I said "what part of cancel is hard to understand?" I feel sorry for their CS reps, they've off shored it and obviously the reps are pressed to avoid cancellation at all costs.

      --
      I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
    23. Re:Ugh... by GTRacer · · Score: 1

      This mat sound weird, but one of the few things I personally dislike about Pandora is the lack of human banter. I don't want constant station IDs or "witty" sports coverage. But if I listen to a couple hours of Pandora I start to feel isolated. One thing I'd almost pay for is a way to hear ads, but local ads FROM OTHER CITIES. The few times I bother to stream specific radio stations directly, I love hearing local ads and personalities from time to time.

      --
      Defending IP by destroying access to it? That makes sense, RIAA/MPAA. Go to the corner until you can play nice!
    24. Re: Ugh... by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, my experience with satellite radio is that it sounded like bitcrushed garbage. I had a free year with my car purchase, and I never used it after the first couple weeks because it was terrible.

      At least streaming isn't beholden to limited total bandwidth from a satellite, divided up among an ever-increasing channel count in a race to have more available content than other services.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    25. Re:Ugh... by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      There were long stretches of the highway where there was no cellular data coverage, but where my SiriusXM worked fine.

      Yet, the SiriusXM (free trial) in my car would cut out going under a bridge over the freeway.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    26. Re: Ugh... by jtgd · · Score: 1

      Maybe they'll add the same horrible compression to Pandora as they do the satellite so it sounds like complete crap. I canceled my free trial satellite radio in the car because I could not stand the terrible sound quality. FM is better.

      --
      J
    27. Re:Ugh... by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 1

      Yet, the SiriusXM (free trial) in my car would cut out going under a bridge over the freeway.

      I find the physics of satellite reception fascinating. I'm at 49.3 degrees of latitude. Sirius works fine in the underground parking lot at my doctor's office, but outside at an intersection with clear line of sight to the sky it cuts out.

      Still, all through the Canadian rockies it worked - Even up at 53 degrees.

    28. Re:Ugh... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      My phone carrier doesn't offer less, and it's already the cheapest carrier for my family.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    29. Re: Ugh... by macwhiz · · Score: 1

      Depends on where you live. In New England, with its trees and hilly terrain, SiriusXMâ(TM)s satellite signal is often less reliable than cellular coverage. The problem gets worse if your car manufacturer didnâ(TM)t do a very good job with its satellite antenna. In my car, SiriusXM is basically unlistenable; it drops out once a mile or so as you go around a hill or under dense foliage. Streaming audio, especially from services that buffer a song or two, works without a hitch. Plus, streaming services have much better audio quality than SiriusXMâ(TM)s 40 to 64Kbps. And they cost less, and donâ(TM)t require you to play the âoeIâ(TM)m going to cancel unless you give me a reasonable priceâ game every few months. I think this is SiriusXM realizing that the handwriting is on the wall for their existing business model. They canâ(TM)t change the bitrate or compression of their satellite service without replacing every âoecompatibleâ car radio out there, or pissing off everyone who has an existing receiver. They canâ(TM)t compete with streaming services... so the alternative to slowly going out of business is to buy a streaming service for the brand recognition.

    30. Re:Ugh... by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      I can't bring myself to pay $15/month for a radio that only works in my vehicle, especially since there is advertising on almost every channel.

      I can't bring myself to pay $15/month for a radio that's sub-AM quality and doesn't have a progressive rock channel. For $15/month, I (and the rest of my family) can stream anything I want from Google (Amazon has a similar service). And I can download stuff, so I don't have to use phone data when in the car, plus I can use it anywhere, not just in the car.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
  2. Sirius has issue with value by sinij · · Score: 2, Informative

    Sirius has issue offering value - they have very expensive satellite radio with only a dozen or so channels. For that they try to charge $15/mo.

    1. Re:Sirius has issue with value by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      I think your math might be off for "only a dozen or so".

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    2. Re:Sirius has issue with value by bws111 · · Score: 4, Informative

      'A dozen or so channels'? I get about 150 channels in my car, and 200 or so when using their internet service.

    3. Re:Sirius has issue with value by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Still, he's right what it's not worth $15/month, especially since most of those channels have advertising. If I was a road warrior and was out of internet and radio range a lot, I would buy it. But not worth it otherwise in my opinion.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    4. Re:Sirius has issue with value by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      I tried the Spotify interface recently, I really didn't like it; and it didn't help that I was looking for Barenaked Ladies (the band, you jokester) and they weren't in the library. It's hard to tell how big the SiriusXM library is, but in some genres like the 80's they play a lot of the 'hit songs' and less of the obscure stuff and there seems to be a lot of repeats. The trick on SiriusXM is definitely to find a channel you are into when you get bored of the old one. They were doing a special Beatles channel and it was very interesting because they would tell you about the background to each song beforehand.

      You can listen to the comedy standup channels for around a week before you have heard most of it and then you have to leave for a month and come back.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    5. Re:Sirius has issue with value by known_coward_69 · · Score: 1

      aren't you paying for the howard stern channels and the rest is free?

    6. Re:Sirius has issue with value by edwdig · · Score: 1

      The music channels don't have advertising.

      Of what's left, most of it is either sports channels or live talk shows. You're going to get natural breaks in those, so advertising isn't unreasonable there.

    7. Re:Sirius has issue with value by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Sirius has issue offering value - they have very expensive satellite radio with only a dozen or so channels. For that they try to charge $15/mo.

      Before I cancelled I was paying $8 a month with an a la carte plan that let me pick 50 stations (or some ridiculous amount)- I only regularly listen to about 3 or 4 stations. Pretty crazy not to do the a la carte with Sirius instead of the whole shebang.

      50 stations oughta be enough for anyone

      -- Bill Gates

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    8. Re:Sirius has issue with value by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      Only the talk channels have advertising. Even with their ads its barely five minutes an hour. Stern's last year on terrestrial radio was 19 minutes an hour of commercials.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    9. Re:Sirius has issue with value by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      I find advertising unreasonable on anything I pay a premium price for. I can't honestly recall if I have heard advertising on music channels or not, just that a lot of the channels seem to have advertising.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    10. Re:Sirius has issue with value by bws111 · · Score: 1

      YOU may find it not worth the $15/month, others (like me) may find it worth it. I have had XM/SiriusXM for over 10 years, listened to daily, and have yet to hear an ad on any music channel (I am aware that there are 1 or 2 channels that retransmit some crappy FM stations, I don't listen to those).

    11. Re:Sirius has issue with value by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Still, he's right what it's not worth $15/month, especially since most of those channels have advertising. If I was a road warrior and was out of internet and radio range a lot, I would buy it. But not worth it otherwise in my opinion.

      Ads must be a new phenomenon. I was with Sirius for years and never heard any ads (besides ads for other stations/upcoming features occasionally). I quit earlier in the summer- no ads then.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    12. Re:Sirius has issue with value by bws111 · · Score: 1

      There are still no ads on the music channels, just like it has always been. He doesn't know what he is talking about.

    13. Re:Sirius has issue with value by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Yeah it's a preference thing. Personally I basically like a totally different playlist sometimes by the hour so I find the rigidity of the SiriusXM channels a little frustrating. I realize this is just me.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    14. Re: Sirius has issue with value by Miamicanes · · Score: 2

      Sirius was awesome ~15 years ago... good sound quality, channels that were like hypothetical big-city radio stations... but without ads... and worked even in "radio deserts" like northern Florida.

      Emphasis on "was".

      Now, even their music channels are bitrate-starved... piss-poor imaging & stereo separation, weird higher-order artifacts, and general "dead" sound. Content-wise, they've become more "XM"-like... good if you used to prefer XM over Sirius, awful if you didn't.

      Would I pay $48/year for it? Yeah, I guess. Would I pay full price for it? Not even in HELL. I ditched it 3 years ago when I got tired of playing their silly pricing games every 6 months.

    15. Re:Sirius has issue with value by omfglearntoplay · · Score: 1

      Not just you. I'm looking for more flexibility... siriusxm was fine for a little hwile.

    16. Re:Sirius has issue with value by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      'A dozen or so channels'? I get about 150 channels in my car, and 200 or so when using their internet service.

      Yeah just like the GP said. A dozen or so channels. Sirius is like a cable company. Approximately 10% of the product is actually worth using.

  3. Content Issues on Both by omfglearntoplay · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I loved Pandora for about 2 months way back when, then got sick of stale content.

    SirusXM I've had for 5 years. Loved it for 2 years, now completely burn out on it. I find about 1 new song every few days that I like, which is not nearly enough. I hear a lot of the same stuff over and over and over, sick of it.

    So I'm about to cancel it. The question is, should I pay for Google Play or Amazon Unlimited? Or something else? I don't love most current pop music, but I like various types of rock, dance, electro, ambient, and that sort of stuff.

    1. Re:Content Issues on Both by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Yeah, on that note - I guess they are a good fit for each other. If you want a service that focuses on repeating things instead of music discovery, their combined powers will....do more of the same.

    2. Re:Content Issues on Both by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Pandora would be helped by new content. Their playlist generation is awesome, but agreed it could have more variety to work with.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    3. Re:Content Issues on Both by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      I used to love it back in the day. Traveling out in the middle of no where and being able to get a station I like to listen to was awesome. Today? Today I can stream or load my phone up with more music than I could listen to in a month. And the non-music content? I though having news stations would be nice. Holy crap I never realized watching them on TV how many commercials they run. On SiriusXM with their repetitive commercials it's painfully obvious their commercial load is over 30 minutes per hour.

      It's probably a good thing they are buying a streaming service. I can't see the satellite service being profitable for much longer (if it even is now). They have to be bleeding subscribers.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    4. Re:Content Issues on Both by omfglearntoplay · · Score: 1

      Thank you for the tip. Sounds cool. And while I was reading up on some things, I ran into this insane music map site. If you zoom in on it, you can find a million different subgenres of music. When I like, because if nothing else I can youtube search them and find some new stuff!

      https://musicmap.info/

    5. Re:Content Issues on Both by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      di.fm only has electronic music though. I subscribe there as well, but I love electronic music.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    6. Re:Content Issues on Both by swm · · Score: 1

      Similar experience with both Pandora and Sirus XM.
      I gave up on Pandora pretty quickly.
      I held on to Sirus for some years, but found I wasn't using it.
      (My best use case for Sirius was driving, and I don't drive much anymore.)

      I subscribe to Google music now, and I'm happy with it.
      It's cheap, the catalog has pretty much everything, and the channels are OK.

  4. Re:down 10% by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    same reason comcast is down. They overpaid.

  5. Re:down 10% by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

    Same reasons AMD's stock went down when they released way better chips than Intel.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  6. Re:down 10% by EvilSS · · Score: 1

    Can anyone explain why the stock is down 10% since the announcement?

    Because buying implies spending money which implies increased debt and lower EPS. It doesn't mean the purchase is a bad decision, it's not unusual at all for the purchaser's stocks to dip on a buyout.

    --
    I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
  7. Still US only by mrbester · · Score: 1

    "the world's largest audio-entertainment company"? Well good for you. How about allowing the rest of the world to use your services if you're so great?

    Or I could use Spotify, Apple, Google, Deezer, etc. who at least have international offerings.

    --
    "Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
  8. It's Free! I Create/Publish My Own Music! by mallyn · · Score: 1
    Folks:

    I don't care about Sirius and others.

    I get a thrill making/publishing my own music and videos!

    You can see a sample at: My Bellingham Jail History Video with my own music

    --
    Most Respectfully Yours Mark Allyn Bellingham, Washington
  9. Re:down 10% by whoever57 · · Score: 1

    lower EPS. It doesn't mean the purchase is a bad decision,

    No, lower EPS means exactly that the purchase was a bad decision.

    The only alternative explanation is that management was hiding an inevitable drop in EPS, which would have happened with or without the acquisition and now that drop has become public knowledge.

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  10. Re:No thanks ... by GTRacer · · Score: 1

    Something I discovered by accident, but wish to revisit soon - buying a stack of CDs at places like Goodwill. a dollar or so per disc and the randomish selection means I can try new artists at very low risk. And yes, they all get ripped for home play. Though to be fair, I stream Pandora out and about because I like the way I've themed my stations.

    --
    Defending IP by destroying access to it? That makes sense, RIAA/MPAA. Go to the corner until you can play nice!
  11. Re:Will Pandora play edited songs now, too? by AndroSyn · · Score: 1

    I noticed that some of the songs I was listening to did not match up with CD recordings of the same songs I own. The versions playing on Sirius were shortened.

    They play the single edits instead of the album versions. This is not unusual at all. This is done to a LOT of songs to fit in a 3 minute or so time period for radio. I'm not entirely sure how you've never noticed this.

    First it was Dire Straights - Money For Nothing. An entire verse was
    removed (I initially chalked it up to SJWs).

    There are multiple versions/edits of this song.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    Length

            8:25 (Album version)
            7:04 (Vinyl LP Edit)
            4:38 (Official Single Edit)
            4:06 (Promo Single Edit)

    Then it was Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear The Reaper. Almost the entire instrumental part was cut.

    Check out the length on the single for this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    Length
      5:08
      3:45 (single edit)

    There is your missing instrumental.

    Then it was Boston - Don't Look Back.

    Also from wikipedia... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    Length
    5:58 (Album Version);
    4:05 (Radio Edit)

    You seriously never knew about singles often being different?