Pandora Media shares plunged Friday after reports said Apple is in talks to license music for a rival online radio service. Shares of Pandora, the largest Internet radio operator, slid 17.6 percent to $10.35 in early trade on Wall Street. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported that Apple was studying a launch of a streaming music service which could be pre-installed on its popular devices like the iPhone and iPad.
Analyst Nat Schindler at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said the move by Apple could shake up the sector. "Apple is currently the largest music retailer in the world and the move is likely being made to unseat rapidly growing streaming competitors like Pandora and Spotify," he said in a note to clients, while adding that the move appears to be "going after Spotify and not Pandora."