US satellite radio service SiriusXM is reducing its workforce by 475 roles, or 8% of its total staff. At the end of 2022, SiriusXM had 5,869 full-time and part-time employees, 5% more that the prior year. SiriusXM announced layoffs are “critical for us to take the right steps now to secure the long-term health and profitability of our business.” SiriusXM posted annual revenues of USD $9.00 billion for the year 2022, up 4% YoY. Its pre-tax profit in 2022 weighed in at $1.61 billion, up 5% year-on-year.

SiriusXM announced limited edition channels launching on Friday (May 1) that will bring some of the greatest hits and exclusive content from the likes of David Bowie, the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, George Strait, Guns N’ Roses, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Prince and the Rolling Stones. The personally curated channels will roll out in coordination with SiriusXM’s Stream Free period, which has been extended through May 31, allowing anyone to get free access to the streaming network's full lineup of streaming content on the SiriusXM app.

Spotify is paying close to $200 million upfront for the Ringer, the growing online sports and pop-culture outlet, as part of its push into podcasting, according to Bloomberg. This amount will be followed by more than $50 million later. Spotify has now spent more than $600 million to acquire four companies that can accelerate its podcasting business -- the Ringer, Gimlet Media, Anchor, and Parcast. In other music business news, Music Business Worldwide reports that SoundCloud has secured $75 million investment from SiriusXM – which acquired another leading music streaming platform, Pandora, last year in a $3.5bn all-stock transaction.

Satellite radio giant SiriusXM is purchasing Internet radio giant Pandora for $3.5 billion, which creates the “largest audio entertainment company”. Pandora’s 70 million mostly active users will join SiriusXM’s 36 million paid subscribers. Consequence of Sound...