Pandora is launching new service that will enable their users to stream songs on-demand, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The service, which would be available for Pandora users in the U.S. and abroad, would be part of the company's new deal with major record companies.
If you're familiar with Pandora, you'll know that the internet radio platform only allows users to create stations that curate music based on the selection of a a specific artist or song. However, the company's new deal would allow the option of a subscription service where users choose what they want to listen to on-demand, similarly to the way Spotify operates and how Rdio operated before Pandora bought the service's key assets back in 2015.
The new service will reportedly cost $10 a month, a slight increase to the radio's current $5 ad-free radio service fee. The payment is comparable to the monthly amount streaming competitors like Spotify, Apple Music, and Jay Z's Tidal ask users to shell out in order to use their services. Interestingly enough, about half of the paying subscribers to Apple Music and Spotify in the U.S. also listen to Pandora, according to MusicWatch, inc. analyst, Mr. Crupnick.
Apple, Spotify, and Tidal are continually trying to one-up each other with new features and exclusives. Most recently, Apple secured the exclusive rights to Chance the Rapper and Frank Ocean's hotly-anticipated albums while Tidal secured rights to Prince's catalog.
The new Pandora service could arrive as early as September so stay tuned for the roll-out.
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