Earlier this year, when Pandora began capping mobile content consumption, founder Tim Westergren admitted it was "a very unusual thing to do." Months later, the personalized radio service is still
struggling to explain the move. “We’re really clear about it,” John Trimble, Pandora’s Chief Revenue Officer, told OMMA Mobile attendees on Wednesday. Officially, however,
Pandora still bills itself as “free, personalized radio” -- and that’s how Trimble described the service on Wednesday. Well, “We’ve been clear that we need to be
profitable,” Trimble clarified. (Westergren has said publically that the cap was necessary because per-track royalties have increased over 25% over the past 3 years, and 9% in 2013 alone.) That
said, “The cap is a short term focus,” Trimble added -- and good thing considering that Pandora’s listener hours dropped 12% in April, the company revealed last month.