With Spotify reigning supreme in the streaming world and Apple Music trailing behind (with TIDAL in the distant race), more companies have been trying to get into the game. Amazon already started and now Pandora is ready to make waves and compete.
The company has announced that they will be launching Pandora Premium early next year.
So what’s the difference between this and anything else out there? Supposedly, it will continue its thumbs down/up platform and focus more on it’s listener data. The search function will give you results for specific albums and artists, plus suggestions. You will also be able to create playlists with some of the suggestions that show up and it will be different for each user, depending on your music tastes. Lastly, AutoPlay will show suggested songs based on the last song played if the feature is turned on.
Considering the platform will include millions of songs available on-demand and ad-free streaming, Pandora Premium will rely on the sleek design and user personalization to carry it forward, as subscribers continue to use the radio station capabilities and ratings options.
There are 78 million people using Pandora currently, so the company is trying to take a bite out of that number and hoping that some convert to paid-subscribers. If they can make it happen, they can feasibly become a major player in the streaming game.