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If You Hate Spotify, You Would Have Loved Pandora’s Original Plans
Ultimately, capitalism and Wall Street ruin everything
In 2013, Pandora — remember them(?) — gave me unprecedented access to its Music Genome Project (MGP). That’s the algorithm that powers Pandora's personalized playlists and — subsequently — music discovery.
At the time, I was a columnist for TheStreet.com, one of the original online financial media platforms. I referenced and adapted work I did for TheStreet alongside my drafts and notes from the time to create this article.
I got to know one of Pandora’s founders, Tim Westergren, and many other executives and employees quite well. Because I often sat down with these people — one on one — Pandora has always owned a special place and sweet spot in my heart. So, I can confidently tell you that the people who helped pioneer music streaming and discovery at Pandora always had their hearts in the right place.
As Spotify does today, Pandora took a ton of crap back then. People said they were anti-artist and such. And I’m telling you — while this might be the case with Spotify in 2025 — it wasn't the reality back when Pandora was fighting to survive and carve out a righteous place in the music industry.
