Pandora Stories Launches Today Combining the Best of Podcasts and Playlists for Artists and Creators

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Creators of All Types Now Able to Reach Tens of Millions of Pandora Listeners with Uniquely Personal, Music-Driven Stories

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Pandora, the largest streaming music provider in the U.S., today introduced Pandora Stories, a unique new artist marketing tool that allows creators to combine the narrative possibilities of podcasts with the emotional power of music playlists. Pandora Stories is a valuable new addition to Pandora’s Artist Marketing Platform (AMP), a suite of free self-serve marketing tools that has already generated over three billion listener impressions by helping artists connect directly with fans and further increase streams of their songs, albums and podcasts.

Pandora Stories allow artists to create music playlists interspersed with voice tracks so that they can tell the stories behind the music, artists, and inspirations that move them, and bring their songs to life in a uniquely personal way whether it’s promoting a new single or shining a light on their greatest influences. Pandora Stories also opens music-driven storytelling to a wider realm of creators - musicians, actors, filmmakers, athletes, celebs, authors, podcasters, thought leaders - giving them access to Pandora’s expansive catalog of fully-licensed songs to contextualize their stories and bring them to life in an intimate new way.

“Pandora Stories exemplifies our commitment to continually innovate for both our listeners and for artists and creators of all kinds using the power of music and audio storytelling tools,” said Chris Phillips, Chief Product Officer, Pandora. “Pandora’s first-of-its-kind Artist Marketing Platform set the standard for empowering creators in the music streaming space, and continues to lead the way.”

Pandora Premium subscribers can listen to Pandora Stories ad-free, and Pandora ad-supported and Plus listeners can do so via Premium Access after watching a 30-second ad by searching for “Pandora Stories.” Premium Access to Pandora Stories also introduces a new opportunity for advertisers and brands to create unique value for their audience and connect with listeners in a music-rich and authentic way.

The first collection of Pandora Stories features John Legend, Daddy Yankee, Lauren Alaina, Perry Farrell, Wes Anderson music supervisor Randall Poster, and Amy Winehouse collaborator and Dap-Kings guitarist Tommy Brenneck, with forthcoming stories from 2 Chainz, Rob Thomas and many more.

“Podcasts can tell stories about music, but it’s difficult to include full songs, and regular playlists have songs but lack personal context from the artists behind them,” said Jeff Zuchowski, VP of Artist Marketing and Industry Relations, Pandora. “We’ve created Pandora Stories to fill that void, bringing together the greatest strengths of both podcasts and playlists, and giving artists the opportunity to connect with listeners on a uniquely deep and personal level.”

Artists and creators of all kinds can request access to Pandora Stories tools at www.AMPplaybook.com/pandora-stories.

About SiriusXM

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is the world's largest audio entertainment company, and the premier programmer and platform for subscription and advertising-supported audio products. With the recent addition of Pandora, the largest streaming music provider in the U.S., SiriusXM reaches more than 100 million people with its audio products. For more about the new SiriusXM, please go to: www.siriusxm.com.

About Pandora

Pandora, a subsidiary of SiriusXM, is the leading music and podcast discovery platform, providing a uniquely-personalized listening experience to approximately 70 million users each month with its proprietary Music Genome Project® and Podcast Genome Project® technology - whether at home or on the go - through its mobile app, the web, and integrations with more than 2,000 connected products. As the largest streaming music provider in the U.S., with an industry-leading digital audio advertising platform, Pandora connects listeners with the music and podcasts they love the most.

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The following factors, among others, could cause actual results and the timing of events to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements: our substantial competition, which is likely to increase over time; our ability to attract or increase the number of subscribers, which is uncertain; our ability to profitably attract and retain more price-sensitive consumers; failure to protect the security of personal information about our customers; interference to our service from wireless operations; a decline in the effectiveness of our extensive marketing efforts; consumer protection laws and their enforcement; our failure to realize benefits of acquisitions or other strategic initiatives, including the acquisition of Pandora Media, Inc.; unfavorable outcomes of pending or future litigation; the market for music rights, which is changing and subject to uncertainties; our dependence upon the auto industry; general economic conditions; existing or future government laws and regulations could harm our business; failure of our satellites would significantly damage our business; the interruption or failure of our information technology and communications systems; rapid technological and industry changes; failure of third parties to perform; our failure to comply with FCC requirements; modifications to our business plan; our indebtedness; damage to our studios, networks or other facilities as a result of terrorism or natural catastrophes; our principal stockholder has significant influence over our affairs and over actions requiring stockholder approval and its interests may differ from interests of other holders of our common stock; impairment of our business by third-party intellectual property rights; and changes to our dividend policies which could occur at any time. Additional factors that could cause our results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, which is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available at the SEC's Internet site (http://www.sec.gov). The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof, and we disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this communication.

Jason Roth
Pandora
jroth@pandora.com

Source: SiriusXM

Released February 26, 2019