The streaming wars continue apace. Pandora has decided to throw their hat in the ring. They will now attempt to compete with the likes of Apple Music and Spotify by launching their own on-demand streaming service.
This is a change of direction for Pandora, who has existed as what is essentially an internet radio service for 16 years. You can’t choose to listen to specific songs, or specific artists. Instead, you choose an artist or a song or a genre and then Pandora builds a radio station around that. The service is free and supported by ads, although users have been able to pay five bucks to avoid ads.
Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, Pandora will be doing the whole subscription-based streaming service thing. While it does not appear that the free, ad-supported radio is going anywhere, for $10 a month you will be able to get something similar to Spotify and Apple Music. Pandora is also planning to add more perks to their current $5 a month option that removes ads. A Pandora spokesperson provided Mashable with a statement on the new addition to the service:
“We’re incredibly excited about what’s ahead. We’ve been working hard to bring an expanded listening experience to listeners and are on track to do so later this year,”
Pandora, as it currently exists, is a solid enough platform. You can just throw it on a certain station and get music you will like. However, it must be hard for them to compete with the services that allow you to choose every song you listen to. Even the music discovery aspect of Pandora stations is now part of things like Spotify, who literally have a feature called “Discover Weekly.” Pandora is playing catch up, but there is now another face to watch in the streaming wars.
(Via Wall Street Journal / Mashable)
