Pandora’s monthly active user base shrank by 2.75 million year-over-year in the third quarter of 2026.
The streaming service had 38.81 million monthly active users (MAUs) at the end of September, down 6.6% from 41.56 million a year earlier.
That’s according to third-quarter results published by parent company SiriusXM on Thursday (October 29).
The number of people paying for Pandora also fell over the same period.
Self-pay subscribers across Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium totaled 5.51 million at the end of Q3, down 177,000 YoY.
Ad-supported listener hours on Pandora dropped 10% YoY to 2.25 billion in the quarter.
Across the whole of SiriusXM, consolidated revenues slipped from USD $2.159 billion in Q3 2025 to $2.153 billion.
The company blamed the dip mainly on a 16% YoY fall in equipment revenue, which it attributed to the rising cost of memory components used in its radio hardware.
SiriusXM’s net income for the quarter rose 7% YoY to $317 million.
Its revenue share and royalty costs increased by $5 million YoY to $726 million.
That figure was equivalent to 33.7% of SiriusXM’s total revenues in the quarter, up from 33.4% a year earlier, by MBW’s calculation.
The SiriusXM segment, which houses the company’s satellite and streaming subscription service, accounted for $392 million of that total, up 2% YoY.
Revenue share and royalties at the Pandora and Off-platform segment, by contrast, fell 1% YoY to $334 million.
Alongside Pandora, that segment covers advertising SiriusXM sells on podcasts and other audio platforms, as well as its ad-tech business AdsWizz.
Revenues at Pandora and Off-platform were $549 million in Q3, compared with $548 million a year earlier.
Advertising revenue in the segment grew 1% to $419 million, which SiriusXM credited to podcasting, programmatic sales, and technology fees.
The company said those gains were partly offset by lower music streaming ad sales on Pandora, as listening hours declined.
Subscriber revenue in the segment fell 2% YoY to $130 million. SiriusXM said this was mainly the result of having fewer subscribers.
SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz said the company’s Q3 results showed it was “building a stronger, more durable SiriusXM.”
Witz pointed to steadier subscriber numbers at the SiriusXM service, rising listener engagement, and the additional advertising inventory the company has gained through its YouTube Audio partnership.
The SiriusXM service added approximately 5,000 self-pay subscribers in Q3, compared with a net loss of 40,000 in the prior-year quarter.
It ended September with 32.85 million total subscribers, of which 31.26 million were self-pay.
Average monthly revenue per user (ARPU) at the service was $15.18, versus $15.19 in Q3 2025.
SiriusXM also raised its full-year 2026 guidance for the second consecutive quarter, lifting its revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow forecasts by $25 million each.
It now expects full-year revenues of approximately $8.55 billion.
CFO Zac Coughlin said a more efficient operating model and declining satellite capital spending put the company in a position to step up share buybacks in 2027.
SiriusXM’s 10-Q filing for the quarter, published on the same day, includes updates on two disputes with music rights organizations.
The first is a lawsuit filed against Pandora in February 2024 by the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC).
The MLC alleges that Pandora underpaid mechanical royalties on its free, ad-supported tier, which it argues qualifies as an interactive service.
The 10-Q says the MLC also argues that Pandora should be paying additional mechanical royalties for its Pandora Plus tier.
SiriusXM states in the filing that the MLC’s claims “would require Pandora to have paid and continue to pay significantly higher royalties.”
The court denied the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment on September 30 and has yet to schedule a new trial date, according to SiriusXM.
Judge Eli J. Richardson said in his order that it would be more efficient to resolve the contested issues at trial than to spend the court’s resources deciding the motions.
The MLC asked the court on October 14 to reconsider that order and grant it summary judgment or, failing that, to let both sides file new, shorter motions. As a further fallback, it asked the court to certify the order for an immediate appeal.
In a response filed on Wednesday (October 28), Pandora opposed the MLC’s request to be granted summary judgment outright.
It did not oppose the court reconsidering the MLC’s motion, however, provided the court also revisits its rejection of Pandora’s own. Nor did it object to a fresh round of shorter motions, and it took no position on an immediate appeal.
The second dispute involves BMI, which filed a rate court action against SiriusXM in September 2024.
The performing rights organization asked the court to confirm that the license fees it had quoted to SiriusXM were reasonable, or otherwise to set reasonable rates.
At the time, BMI President and CEO Mike O’Neill accused SiriusXM of “underpaying the creators of the music that drives the majority of their business.”
The filing also notes that SiriusXM currently operates under an interim license with BMI, and that the trial is set to begin on January 11, 2027.
Pandora, meanwhile, has raised its subscription prices.
For subscribers billed directly by Pandora, Premium now costs $11.99 a month, up from $10.99, while Plus has risen from $4.99 to $5.99. The Premium Family plan has gone up from $17.99 to $19.99.
The new prices took effect for new purchases on September 22 and apply to existing subscribers’ bills from October 22.
“We haven’t made this decision lightly,” Pandora said on its support website.
The service last raised the price of Pandora Premium in May 2024, from $9.99 to $10.99 a month.
SiriusXM says in its 10-Q that it expects subscriber revenue in the Pandora and Off-platform segment to grow, with higher pricing offsetting a decline in the average number of subscribers.
Pandora ended 2023 with 46.0 million MAUs, according to SiriusXM figures cited by MBW at the time – around 7.2 million more than its Q3 2026 total.Music Business Worldwide
