Pandora: Celebrating 20 Years of Music and Innovation

Break out the bubbly and balloons: Pandora has turned 20, marking two decades of expert curation and music discovery. Music has changed a lot (from the rise of TikTok-viral tunes to the growth of subgenres), but what’s remained consistent is users’ love for Pandora. Over six in 10 Pandora users have been using the app for at least 10 years, and 40% of listeners say Pandora plays music they know and love. Music is the ultimate unifier and passion point—defying culture barriers and languages—and Pandora has long been where fans come to get their fix.

As we celebrate our anniversary and how far we’ve come over 20 years, we want to show you why Pandora stays on top—and how brands can look forward. 

Combining Loyal Audiences, Large Scale, and Advanced Targeting

As the music industry has evolved over the decades, we’ve evolved along with it. Here’s what makes Pandora the powerhouse it is today. 

Massive Scale 

Pandora boasts 42.7M monthly unique visitors and 263M listening hours weekly. Our listeners are engaged, too, with our platform accumulating 58M song likes weekly.

Ad-supported Audience 

We’re #1 in ad-supported scale, and 87% of our listeners choose to tune in on the free tier with ads. As economic shifts ebb and flow, free entertainment is always in style. Almost nine in 10 listeners appreciate that there’s so much free audio content available today. As listeners access the content they love most, brands can get in on the action with tailored messages. 

Loyal Listeners 

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Our listeners are loyal. And they do more than listen: they feel, connect, and engage with the nostalgic music of yesterday and the newest songs of today. Half of our audience is made up of loyal listeners, who are on the app 10+ days each month. And almost half (44%) of our listeners have been on the app for over a decade. Our listeners haven’t just been around for a while—they choose to come back regularly. 

Unrestricted Access 

With thousands of device integrations available (2K+), Pandora allows for unrestricted access at home and on the go. Over 10M listeners tune in from Connected Vehicle, whether they’re on their daily commute or kicking off a road trip. And almost 9M listeners tune in from Connected Home, using their smart TVs, desktop, tablets, headphones, and more.  

Logged-in User Data 

With 20 years worth of data, we know what makes our existing (and new) listeners tick. With our first-party data and insights on user demographics, location, and listening habits, brands know exactly who’s being targeted and which ad they should receive. What’s more, our first-party data is 3.8x more accurate than other publishers, so you can trust that you’re receiving the richest dataset in audio. 

Advanced Targeting 

Pandora listeners contribute to more than 1B data points daily, so we can build advanced targeting segments that matter most to you, whether it’s rock lovers who tune in on Wednesdays, high-earning, West Coast-based listeners, multi-tasking users who cook while listening, and much more. 

20 Years of Dropping the Perfect Track

Having decision fatigue over what to play next or how to sift through the influx of new music? Not here. It’s safe to say that we get music, so users can sit back and let us do the work. Not only are we on top of what’s trending, but we expertly curate what users might like—before they’ve even thought of it themselves. Pandora’s Music Genome Project focuses on sound and emotion, not popularity, setting the foundation for personalized listening. 

With over 600 music genres and 2M tracks on our platform, we analyze 10K songs monthly and 450 traits per track—resulting in an algorithm that knows our listeners’ music tastes better than they do.

Turning Artists into Household Names

What do Coco Jones, Ivory Scott, Kenya Grace, Alex Warren, and Teddy Swims all have in common? They all got their start on Pandora. It’s here where they earned their first fans and grew their voice. Jones was crowned Pandora’s inaugural Accelerator Artist in 2022 and earned the Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance just a few years later. Meanwhile, Swims released “Lose Control” on Pandora in 2023 and earned a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist in 2025. We routinely keep an eye out for new talent, while listeners get the coveted chance to be an “OG fan” before an artist hits the mainstream. 

Staying at the Center of Pop Culture

Music and pop culture go hand in hand, with each influencing the other. In the past two decades, Pandora has been a recordkeeper of major pop culture moments. This year, here’s how our listeners responded to key moments in music, TV, and film.

• +1M average weekly spins for the film “K-Pop Demon Hunters” in the month of August

• +334% increase in Taylor Swift’s 360° station listeners on the release day of the album “The Life of a Showgirl” 

• +253% increase in station adds for Cardi B the week after the release of her album “Am I the Drama?”

• +159% increase in station adds for Bad Bunny the week after he was announced as the 2026 Big Game’s halftime show performer

The Most-loved, Most-streamed Artists over 20 Years

Trending music of past years gives us a glimpse into previous phases of our life and what was happening in the world at the time. Curious as to who our most-streamed artists were in the past two decades? You don’t need a time machine to see who’s topped our charts; we’ll wait for the nostalgic memories to start flooding in:

• 2005: Coldplay 

• 2010: Lady Gaga 

• 2015: Taylor Swift 

• 2020: Kevin Gates 

• 2025: Morgan Wallen 

For more, check out Pandora’s All-Time Thumb Hundred playlist, including the most-thumbed tracks from the past two decades. 

Hosting Top Industry Events 

The Pandora experience isn’t limited to one tapping “thumbs up” or “play.” In the past few years, we’ve taken the fan experience offline by hosting vibrant franchise experiences for music superfans and brands alike. These events are a win-win, fans get a free concert experience, while brands earn precious attention and lifts in brand opinion and consideration. 

El Pulso 

This year, we hosted our annual El Pulso event in Miami to celebrate Latin music. The event attracted a large Gen Z and female audience, who gathered to watch Manuel Torizo perform. While they waited for the main event, eventgoers experienced brand activations and snagged freebies from major sponsors like Amazon, AT&T, Wendy’s, and more. The audience had memories of a lifetime, and 61% of attendees walked away with a more positive opinion of the event’s sponsors.

HBCU Homecoming

Our annual HBCU Homecoming has become a tradition over the past three years, and our latest event was not to be missed. Hosted on Florida A&M University’s campus, the experience allowed student groups to showcase their talent, while brands connected with influential, young music lovers (6K+ to be exact). Attendees took advantage of brand activations, free swag, and games from sponsors like Cricket Wireless, State Farm, and Target. The night ended with the main event—a dazzling concert lineup including Glorilla, Anycia, and Veeze. 

The event was a massive success, with 84% of attendees planning to look for more information about a sponsor, and over 73% of attendees planning to purchase a product.   

Looking Ahead to Many More Decades of Pandora

Twenty years of shaping listeners’ music tastes. Twenty years of perfecting our algorithm. Twenty years of ad innovation. Pandora’s anniversary is more than a birthday. It’s a milestone that shows why our listeners have stuck around, how we stay on the pulse of culture, and why brands come to us for their messages. We know that we’ll remain a daily companion to listeners, delivering music discovery and setting the mood when they need it most—and we’ll continue to innovate to help you reach them. 

Let’s chat.  

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