Pandora declares iTunes Radio not a threat, investors cheer

When Apple officially unveiled iTunes Radio, it seemed like a bad news for established music-streaming services like Pandora, but now that iOS 7 and the new iTunes music feature have had a bit of time to spread, Pandora seems to have weathered the storm with flying colors. Today the company announced that rather than taking a hit in the post-iTunes-Radio world, its overall “hours of listening” metric rose 9 percent from September to October, and 18 percent year-over-year. The company also revealed that its overall slice of the US radio pie grew from 7.77 percent to 8.06 percent in the span of a month.

Pandora’s stock price took the news particularly well, climbing almost 9 percent, as fears that the company’s inevitable death at the hands of Apple seem to have been soothed.

Of course, iOS 7 is still relatively new, and Apple hasn’t done much in the way of pushing iTunes Radio from a marketing perspective. A few TV commercials could change that in a hurry, but for now Pandora lives to fight another day.

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