What I find most frustrating is that the clothing I grew up wearing and was ridiculed for wearing, has now become part of the hottest fashion trends, and I have no ability to repurchase these items, given their new price. The resurfacing of Champion hoodies and vinyl records can be blamed on a feeling some call “nostalgia.” It’s that zingy zest that justifies the righteous return of long-departed items and concepts with predated cultural significance. Waltz into an Urban Outfitters retail store and you’ll see exactly what I mean.
The entirety of the store’s offerings
Another industry that time thought it had already dealt stems from companies still invested in commercial radio broadcasting. Following the introduction of music-streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and even Tidal, music lovers have slowly stopped listening to their car radios, preferring to choose their tunes without those burdensome radio commercials.
Sometime in early 2000, Pandora Internet Radio (P) was founded to take advantage of the nostalgia-hungry members of the music community who loved the radio, but knew it needed an overdue face lift. The service, which utilizes a freemium subscription model, allows users to create stations based on their favorite artists and songs, and the songs chosen by Pandora (P) will reflect the style of
In September of last year, Sirius XM Holdings INC (SIRI) and Pandora Media, Inc (P) announced a definitive agreement under which SiriusXM would acquire Pandora in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $3.5 billion. For those unfamiliar with Sirius (SIRI), the Company offers subscription-based satellite radio service with hundreds of curated channels and no commercials. Since the deal closed, consumers and shareholders have waited patiently to see hear about Sirius’ plans for its newest asset. Sirius XM (SIRI) CEO James Meyer — speaking to investors on their most recent earnings call this week — said that the Company has plans in place:
“…to capitalize on cross-promotion opportunities between SiriusXM’s more than 36 million subscribers across North America and Pandora’s approximately 70 million monthly active users. In early February, we will begin a targeted promotion to SiriusXM subscribers and Pandora listeners Select Pandora listeners will receive an offer to obtain a unique $5 a month ‘Mostly News,’ ‘Mostly Music’ or ‘News Talk’ [SiriusXM subscription] package in their satellite-equipped vehicle.”
–James Meyer, Chief Executive Officer, Sirius XM
To put Meyer’s words into something a little easier to get down, SiriusXM will begin offering a $5 per month streaming plan within the Pandora Radio smartphone app.
According to TechCrunch, roughly have of the owners of SiriusXM-enabled vehicles have used Pandora (P) over the course of the last two years, and Sirius plans on taking advantage of this fact by employing cross-promotional strategies.
Meyer believes that by utilizing Pandora’s (P) radio-streaming platform, the Company will be able to create “new, unique audio packages that will bring together the best of both services creating a powerful platform for artists to reach their fans and create new audiences.”
It’s worth noting that the success of the newly formed Sirius-Pandora collaboration is dependent on the continuation of consumer interest in all things nostalgia. One could argue that, like major bookstores that have closed in the aftermath of eReaders, this may be the ultimate fate of anything closely resembling a radio.
