Pandora CEO Westergren Steps Down, CFO Naveen Chopra Takes Interim Reins

Pandora CEO Tim Westergren has stepped down from his position at the company it was announced today, with CFO Naveen Chopra stepping into the CEO position for the interim while the Board of Directors begins an immediate search for a new CEO. Chief Executive Officer/ReDEF Group Jason Hirschhorn has also been appointed to the Board of Directors.

“On behalf of the entire board, I would like to thank Tim for his vision and his many years of leadership that have created one of the most recognized brands in streaming music today,” said Pandora Board Member Tim Leiweke. “Tim stepped in to be CEO at a critical time for the company and was quickly able to reset relations with the major labels, launch our on-demand service, reconstitute the management team and refortify our balance sheet by securing an investment from Sirius XM. We support Tim’s desire to identify a new CEO for Pandora’s next stage.”

“I am incredibly proud of the company we have built,” Westergren said. “We invented a whole new way of enjoying and discovering music and in doing so, forever changed the listening experience for millions. I came back to the CEO role last year to drive transformation across the business. We accomplished far more than we anticipated. We rebuilt Pandora’s relationships with the music industry; launched a fantastic Premium on-demand service, and brought a host of tech innovations to our advertising business. With these in place, plus a strengthened balance sheet, I believe Pandora is perfectly poised for its next chapter.”

Also exiting the company in the transition are Pandora President Mike Herring and CMO Nick Bartle.

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Lorie Hollabaugh

Hollabaugh, a staff writer at MusicRow magazine, has over 20 years of music business experience and has written for publications including American Profile, CMA Close Up, Nashville Arts And Entertainment, The Boot and Country Weekly. She has a Broadcast Journalism and Speech Communication degree from Texas Christian University, (go Horned Frogs), and welcomes your feedback or story ideas at lhollabaugh@musicrow.com.

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