Apple Takes a Bite out of Pandora

Pandora

Last Thursday was a big day for Pandora. They started their day taking the steps of Capitol Hill and ended it with their stocks falling down.

Pandora and their posse--the 'Internet Radio Fairness Coalition'--are pushing feds to pass a bill sponsored by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) to lower Internet radio royalty rates to that of cable and satellite radio. Their push comes in response to a bill put forth by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) to raise cable and satellite radio rates to that of Internet radio.

Further spurring the race to lock in a single-standard radio royalty rate are new Internet radio royalty rates, set to be determined next year.

While lawmakers debate the competing bills, the stock market was swift to respond to news Thursday that Apple is jumping on the music-streaming bandwagon early next year. Pandora shares quickly dropped over 21% (to $7.32) before trading was halted Thursday. It's since recovered slightly to $8.33: a 59% drop since the stock went public in June 2011 at $20 a share.

Gossip around Apple often wreaks havoc on Pandora's mercurial stock. Last September, during the hype around the iPhone 5's launch, similar Apple-streaming-music rumors caused Pandora stocks to drop, and then spike once Apple remained mum of any such plans at the iPhone's release.

Busy times ahead for Pandora. Stay tuned...

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