Pandora Launches Premium Music Streaming Subscription Option

March 13 2017, 06:00
Pandora announced the launch of Pandora Premium, its first ever on-demand streaming tier, competing directly with Apple Music, Spotify and others. For $9.99 a month, Pandora Premium combines the best of Pandora’s personalized radio with the ability to search and play any track or album as well as a unique set of playlist features tailored to each person’s distinct preferences. 
 

Powered by the Music Genome Project, the most comprehensive music analysis ever undertaken, Pandora offers personalized radio that continually evolves with users' tastes. Listeners can now curate their music experience with what the company claims is "an ease of use unmatched by any other service." 

“Every day tens of millions of people trust us to choose the exact right songs for them. That’s why they spend more time with Pandora than any other music service,” says Tim Westergren, founder and CEO of Pandora. “With Premium, we’re leveraging our immense trove of data and everything we’ve learned about personalization to offer a listening experience that sets a new standard for what a music service should be.”

Pandora listeners who start a trial will see all of their stations and thumbed up songs and a new visually “Now Playing” experience, which pulls a signature color from the album art and changes as each track plays. Innovative new features are designed to make finding and collecting music and building playlists easy, allowing users to expand selections with the function “Add Similar Songs”, putting the power of Pandora’s Music Genome Project to work to create a perfect playlist for any activity, mood or party.

Every song thumbed up by Pandora's users is now immediately available in the “My Thumbs Up” playlist. When users thumb up a few tracks on any Pandora radio station, Premium will automatically create a new playlist of those songs, while browse is populated with personalized suggestions for the latest releases in any music genre.

An offline mode allows users to download albums, songs stations or playlists when they are not connected. The search function was also perfected using Pandora’s team of curators, and music analysts to help users quickly find what they really want, filtering out karaoke versions or tribute tracks.

Existing Pandora Plus subscribers will enjoy six months of Premium for no additional charge. Trial lengths for existing Pandora ad-supported listeners and those new to Pandora vary. Premium is available now on iOS and Android phones, Google Chromecast, and integrated in the car with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, GM, Honda, Hyundai, JVC Kenwood, Mazda, Pioneer and Subaru. It will be available on other platforms, including desktop and popular connected devices, in the coming months.

Invites for a free trial of Pandora Premium are being sent to select listeners and an option to upgrade will be available to all listeners later on. Pandora is only available in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand right now.
To sign up for an invite, visit: http://pandora.com/premium.
www.pandora.com
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