Former Microsoft Executive Brian McAndrews named Pandora President and CEO

In March of this year, Pandora's Joe Kennedy announced that he would be leaving the Internet radio company this year. Such kicked off the search for his replacement, which has been unveiled today as former Microsoft executive and senior vice president Brian McAndrews, who left Microsoft in 2008 and will be serving as Pandora's President, Chairman, and CEO.

The new Pandora president spoke with the folks over at Reuters, where he said he took on the job because the opportunity it presents, with the now-CEO specifying a focus on both innovation for customers and the customers themselves. Pandora's founder and somewhat frequent company blogger Tim Westergren also has a few things to say, namely that his company had been searching for a replacement with backgrounds in advertisement and technology.

According to McAndrews' LinkedIn profile, he currently serves as a director at AppNexus, The New York Times, and Seamless, as well as a Venture Partner at Madrona Venture Group. Before that, however, he has a history as a manager and executive in various positions, having served as Vice President and Director at ABC and under Product Management with General Mills.

This was followed up by stints at Walt Disney Company, where he was an executive vice president, and at aQuantive as president and CEO. One of his latest positions, however, was as a senior vice president, advertiser, and more with Microsoft. His educational background includes Stanford and Harvard.

This change comes at a time when Pandora is seeing growth in both users and costs, with the company primarily relying on advertisements for its revenue. In recent times, Westergren has been outspoken about the nature of Internet radio, royalties, and Pandora's battles with the music industry.

SOURCE: Reuters