[ExI] externalization of knowledge again

[Dave Sill]

On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 10:19 AM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
>
> Ja that is kinda where I am going with this observation.  I don't see what
> is in it for Pandora.  It completely obviates the purchase of the CDs they
> are hoping to sell.  They have suggested some excellent music that I had
> never heard, such as Coldplay.  But there isn't much point in my buying
> their CD.  If you consider Pandora the ultimate advertisement technique, it
> is too good, so good that the advertisement defeats the actual sale,
> simultaneously creating a desire and eliminating the necessity.

Pandora doesn't exist to promote CD sales. It exists to sell its own
service, which is more analogous to a customizable radio station than
a library of music that can be played on demand. Its revenue comes
from advertising and fees and its biggest cost is royalties (70% of
income).

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora_%28music_service%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoundExchange

-Dave