Pandora completes buy-out of audio adtech company AdsWizz

Pandora’s acquisition of digital audio adtech company AdsWizz is complete, the company announced overnight.

This gives the streaming company a definite edge.

Pandora CEO Roger Lynch stated, “As a publisher, Pandora has long understood the value that a sophisticated advertising platform can bring to everyone in digital audio.

“We are the leader in this space, and we remain committed to serving all constituents in the ecosystem

“Audio is the fastest growing format in digital advertising and the marketplace is rapidly evolving.

“Completing the acquisition cements our position in the future of audio, making us more ready than ever to serve publishers and brands worldwide.”

Pandora is increasingly relying on ad revenue to offset the rise of content licensing fees from $2.96 to $4.65 per user year-over-year, as result of the growth in premium listeners.

Subscriptions made $104.7 million: paying subscribers grew 19% from last year to 5.63 million.

AdsWizz products will make Pandora more attractive to a wider range of brands and publishers around the world, and bring products to the market quicker than before.

These include ad insertion, advanced programmatic platforms, data management and tools to monitor ad campaigns.

New AdsWizz audio formats include Shake Me, where someone listening to an ad just needs to shake their phones to trigger an action.

Shake Me will allow Pandora to increase its personalisation of ads, and to target users through their activity as jogging or working out in the gym.

AdsWizz will continue to operate as a subsidiary headed by its CEO Alexis van de Wyer.

“We will continue to focus on building the best technology in the industry for our publisher partners everywhere, and on continuing to innovate and enhance our platform, which will be accessible to all,” he said.

Pre-Pandora, it had developed technology that powered music platforms, podcasts and broadcasters as iHeartRadio, Spotify and Deezer.

At this point it is not known if Pandora will cut ties with these clients who are its rivals, after all, or remain neutral.

The Pandora/ AdsWizz $145 million deal was first announced in March. 50% of the deal was to be paid in cash.

Pandora revealed overnight it paid $66.3 million in cash and 9.9 million shares of Pandora common stock, with an additional $5 million in cash paid if certain milestones are reached.