Pandora's Box Filled with Thumbs -- 10 Billion of Them

I have written several times about music streaming service Pandora. I myself am a fan -- and have been a paying subscriber for several years now. Pandora is everywhere. It works well, and is easy, easy, easy. And, it places music discovery front and center (even with its sometimes limited play lists). I like that. I like that a lot.

The basic form of interaction with the service is via "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" icon the user clicks on a particular song. If I click one way or the other, I fine-tune my music listening experience (a "thumbs down" click means that I will not hear that song again, for example). Now get this -- Pandora just recorded its 10 BILLIONTH thumb! THAT is impressive.

So, while I previously have questioned Pandora's actual profitability, no one can question its ubiquity. Virtually everyone I know uses it. And, as you may recall, Pandora recently filed for a $100 million IPO that is expected to value the company at nearly $1 billion.

That kind of cash certainly can buy a lot more thumbs ...