Cincinnati hosted Pandora Founder Tim Westergren who shared with us the inspiring story of Pandora at the Fifth Social Media Breakfast.

Pandora Quick Facts

• Pandora has 22 million registered users
• Pandora’s marketing consisted of: Search, Tim hosting TownHalls and great customer service.
• Pandora has real people who personally respond to every email.
• The first Town Hall meeting with Tim had 2 people show up. And it was in Manhattan.
• The average Pandora user tells 8 people about the service.
• The Pandora iphone app is the #1 application with over 3 million downloads in only 6 months.

“If you build a product that people like and if you treat them well, they’ll do your marketing for you” – Tim Westergren, Founder Pandora

Pandora Case Study – Mobilize Users for a Cause

The most intriguing thing that Tim talked about was a situation where Pandora users kept their business alive.

Situation

• The Copyright Royalty Board (an obscure 3 person panel) made a ruling that would essentially triple the royalties paid by sites like Pandora.
• The new costs would put Pandora out of business.
• You can read an interview with Tim that goes into more details.
• Pandora was small, so lobbying and working the channels were not effective.
• Pandora was on the verge of having to shut their doors.

What Happened?

• As a last resort effort, Pandora asked listeners for their help; and asked them to call or fax their Congress representative.
• Pandora users responded in droves, and actually shut down the fax system in Washington. Over 400,000 faxes were sent in the first 10 days (from my notes but I can’t verify this # anywhere).
• More people contacted Congress on behalf of Pandora than over the Iraq war.

The Results

• Congress reacted (apparently they wanted to use their fax machines again) and took up the issue.
• On September 28 Congress passed the Webcaster Settlement Act, which allowed internet radio sites like Pandora to renegotiate the Royalties.
• The law was turned around by passionate Pandora listeners.

Key Lessons

• Treat your users well.
• Have a great product that people are passionate about.
• If you care about your users, they’ll care about you.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
• Don’t forget the power of the people.