B Riley & Co Analyst Weighs In On Pandora Rumors

Speaking to Benzinga, B Riley & Co Analyst Sameet Sinha addressed rumors surrounding Pandora Media Inc (NYSE: P).

Sinha noted that a buyer for Pandora would be paying for its 80 million listeners which represent "significant inherent value" for a local sales team.

The idea Sinha put forth was for an owner to change the content cost structure by negotiating deals outside of the existing regulatory framework, similar to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) or Spotify.

Sinha did not expect that Jay-Z would be a buyer although a consortium of buyers was possible, according to the analyst.

"Music as a service has buyers in a number of places, from Internet media companies such as Microsoft, Yahoo and Google to manufacturers like Apple and now the music industry itself is getting into the game with Jay-Z coming in [with Tidal]," according to Sinha.

The analyst added that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB) and Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) should not be ruled out either, because "music has a universal appeal...it's a sticky product if you get it right."

Pandora recently traded at $16.66, up 8.68 percent.

Kevin Riley and Brianna Valleskey contributed to this report.