Pandora Names Naveen Chopra CFO

Naveen Chopra

Music streaming service Pandora has hired former TiVo executive Naveen Chopra as its new Chief Financial officer.

Variety reports Chopra is replacing Mike Herring, who has been Pandora's CFO since early 2013; Herring, who has also been serving as Pandora's President since last year, will remain with the company and focus on advertising and subscription growth.

"We are thrilled to welcome Naveen aboard," said Pandora founder and CEO Tim Westergren in a statement . "Naveen is a talented business leader whose deep knowledge and background in consumer-oriented technology companies make him the right choice as our new CFO."

Before joining Pandora, Chopra had been working for TiVo in various functions for 13 years. After moving up the ranks in the company, Chopra became TiVo's CFO in 2012, and took on the additional role as TiVo's interim CEO in January of 2016. He left TiVo in September following the acquisition by Rovi.

The hire comes as Pandora gears up for the launch of its new music subscription service, which for the first time will pit the company directly against competitors like Spotify and Apple Music. But some have questioned whether the company will be able to effectively compete against juggernauts like Apple as an independent company, especially in light of continuing losses. Take-over rumors have been popping up every few moths or so.