Pandora Radio has been one of the more popular streaming radio and music services for a while, but more recently in the last few years it has been slightly overshadowed by the continued expansion of competitors like Spotify and Google Play Music. Pandora still remains as one of the top offerings, but in an attempt to increase growth and become more successful, Pandora has decided to mix things up with the management of the company and has announced that they will be restructuring their leadership, appointing different people to several key roles, including Pandora’s co-founder Tim Westergren who will now be taking over as the new CEO of the company effective immediately, replacing Pandora’s former CEO Brian McAndrews who will be leaving Pandora.
The board’s decision to move Westergren into the CEO position makes sense given his continued involvement in the company over the years, including but not limited to contributing to the growth of the service prior to his new role. The board also states that Westergren has had a reputation for engaging and interacting with everyone that is crucial to Pandora’s success from employees to listeners. Although Westergren is the center focus of the role changes, he will not be the only person moving into a new spot within the company, as the board has also appointed new people to a few different management roles.
This includes a new CFO, COO, and CPO, all of which are key positions and the people chosen will play a crucial role in Pandora’s future success and growth. Mike Herring will take over as the president and Chief Financial Officer, and will be responsible for driving the company’s financial success including music licensing, finance, revenue, and expanding margins. As the new Cheif Operating Officer, Sara Clemens will be responsible for overseeing music makers, international operations, human resources, corporate development, and Ticketfly. Lastly, Chris Phillips will be the new Chief Product Officer, and will handle the company’s product, as well as marketing and engineering of the service, with a focus on coming up with new products to introduce to fans and users of the service. Although it’s too early to tell whether or not these changes will have the desired results for Pandora that the board is hoping for, they’re bold changes that could very well help Pandora grow to new heights.