Pandora returns: Are there too many players?

Music fans tweeted and blogged their excitement as music streaming service Pandora quietly sneaked back into Australiathis month, after a five-year shut down due to licensing issues.

"We have been looking to expand internationally for some time. We are excited that the business environments in New Zealand and Australia are such that we can offer Pandora to music lovers there."

But one thing is certain, as 21-year-old self-confessed music addict Emily White illustrates: The next generation of music fans are firm digital natives. Nostalgia for music wrapped in paper and plastic is dead, or at least, dying. With support from the industry's core demographic fixed firmly on online presentation, this may be the only way forward.

As Tim Poulton puts it: “This is the industry moving to the future. It has only succeeded this far because it's something that is working.”