On Wednesday's MarketFoolery, host Chris Hill discusses the streaming music landscape with Bill Barker, a Motley Fool funds analyst, and Jim Gillies, a Motley Fool options and Stock Advisor Canada analyst.
The U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division is reviewing the decades-old songwriter rate agreements. Chris notes Pandora (P) is down since the news, as the music streaming company will probably need to pay more to songwriters and publishers for its music offerings. Jim looks at how the company must transition from free users to the paid model to move past the hurdle. As a self-described, "geek nerd," Jim is a Pandora investor but can't use the product in Canada. Bill, a user of Pandora's free offering, analyzes the free-to-play offering and says he's hopeful the company has enough users to continue past the news. Shareholders will no longer get monthly updates, Chris points out, as Pandora has released its final monthly metrics.
Chris then turns to the larger music landscape -- from Apple's (AAPL 0.56%) Beats, SiriusXM (SIRI -0.79%), Pandora, and even terrestrial radio stations -- and streaming music in the near future. Bill agrees that the industry moves fairly quickly and he remembers rumors about Apple taking over the radio, which didn't happen.
