5 Reasons I'd Buy Today's Pandora IPO, Even at New $16 Share and $2.5 Billion Valuation

(UPDATE: Pandora opened above expectations at $20 a share and has ranged from $23—$25 this morning.) Pandora raised the price of shares again for today's IPO to $16 giving the company a valuation just north of $2.5 billion.  That's usually a sign of investor interest, despite new warnings from several major analysts.  I understand the problem with Pandora's business model—the more people that listen, the higher they're royalty costs go. That's a real concern, but I'd still buy Pandora's IPO today if I could. Here are 5 reasons why:

75 million listeners, as of early this year—That's a sizable and growing community to monetize, and provides an almost insurmountable lead over possible competitors.

Easy to use—Visit almost any office and you'll find people of all ages using Pandora, because it gives them a stream of music that they want to hear without a lot of hassle.

It's passive—The more busy and complex our lives get, the more attractive passive services are  Passive customers are also loyal customers. It's too much work to change,  

Music discovery. - Ultimately Pandira will attract more support from record labels.  Spotify, music streaming and cloud lockers are great for listening to music that you already know. Pandora mixes what you know with things you might want to hear.

Tim Westergren—No one has worked in this space longer or spends more time listening his users than Westergren. He hung in when Pandora was almost out of money, assembled a strong team and has the vision and staying power to take it further.