*FamousDC was recently asked to attend a Pandora Listener Town Hall. As a Pandora fan, we were happy to attend. Have an event you want covered? Email us at [email protected]. The following post was written by guest contributor, Nicholas Holt

It was a special treat to get to sit in a small intimate theater and listen to Tim Westergren speak about his brain child Pandora. Tim is hosting a series of listener town hall meetings in different cities. A listener townhall is a chance for a regular guy like me, who uses his product on a daily basis, to possibly change the future of Internet radio.

The setting was not unlike a stand up comedy act. One mic, one stool, small bohemian carpet on the floor and some bottled water to combat the fatigue of the spotlight.

Westergren has quite the personality. He is a sharp witted, ambitious man with a quick tongue and a dry sense of humor. He gave us the history of Pandora Internet Radio sparing no detail. He talked about the two years that his employes had to go without pay (salary deferral). He also told us about the very first song they used to test their “recommendation engine.” It was a Beatles song and the Excel algorithm created matched it to The Beegees. At that moment – after over a year of work – Tim sat down and spouted a string of expletives. He didn’t think Pandora was working and he almost lost hope. But when the next song played, it worked perfectly. Success!

Tim also talked about the future of Pandora. They currently have plans for international expansion and a strong desire to create an artist middle class. An artist middle class would mean that the moment an independent artist has their song analyzed and added to Pandora, they can quit their day job and do what they live for: making music.

One of the disheartening talking points was how product development and forward momentum have been greatly reduced due to unfair royalty requirements. Pandora is in full support of royalties and wants artists to get paid for their work, but last year the company had to pay half of their operating revenues in royalty rates while other providers pay less than six percent in some cases – which hardly seems fair.

The issue has been brought to Congress and Pandora is leading the fight to give Internet radio a fair chance. People like Tim Westergren are few and far between and may soon be calling on us to write our Congressmen on Pandoras behalf.

Tim – thanks for listening to DC. It was a night I won’t soon forget and let us know what we can do to help.

Guest Contributor, Nicholas Holt

Photos courtesy of Patrick Ryan