Pandora Acquires Artist Analytics Platform Next Big Sound

Our prediction that 2015 would be a big year for music tech mergers and acquisitions is proving accurate.  Today, Pandora, online radio's dominate player, announced that it has acquired Next Big Sound, a pioneer in digital music analytics.

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Pandora has agreed to acquire Next Big Sound, a provider of online music analytics, for an undisclosed sum.

A part of an offensive to counter what many in the industry see as inadequate payments to rights holders and creators, Pandora has stepped up efforts to help artists understand and connect with fans. Today's deal "marks the latest step in Pandora’s commitment to become an indispensable partner to the music industry," the company said in a statement, "and accelerates its strategy of harnessing data for the benefit of music makers."

Launched in 2009, Next Big Sound combines music consumption data in a centralized platform. The acquisition provides Pandora with an analytics tool currently used by tens of thousands of artists, labels and marketers.  

It will be interesting to see how Next Big Sound's artist and label customers feel about Pandora having access to their data.

Under the deal, Next Big Sound will expand Pandora’s data-driven Artist Marketing Platform (AMP), that already offers Artist Insights and Artist Audio Messaging.  And Pandora's massive data set will be added to Next Big Sound’s analytics offering.

“We are thrilled to be joining Pandora,” said Alex White, CEO at Next Big Sound. “In them, we’ve found a great partner who, like us, believes data has the power to transform the music industry.”