Pandora Launches Feature-Packed Pandora Plus Service With Offline Listening Mode
Tim Westergren, founder and CEO at Pandora, remarked, “Whether a listener wants to take advantage of our enhanced ad-supported experience, our groundbreaking subscription radio service, or our fully interactive on-demand option coming later this year, we have a solution tailored for you at a price point you can afford."
Pandora Plus particularly focuses on ads, replays, skipping, and offline streaming. User will be able to skip or replay more songs by opting into an advertiser video. Pandora One’s new offline mode will allow the user to continue listening to music even when their device has lost its signal.
The new service will roll out on Android and iOS over the next few months. Pandora One subscribers will automatically be updated to Pandora Plus. Australia and New Zealand will receive the update in 2017.
Amazon is also reportedly launching its own budget streaming service. The company has plans for a $10 a month plan that would play all the music a customer wants to stream wherever they want to stream. The second plan would stream the same music, but cost half the price and only work on Amazon Echo’s. This subscription is also rumored to be launching this month.
Pandora’s skipping and replay features come at the cost of advertisements, while Amazon’s $5 service will only be available to specific customers. Many argue that $10 USD a month for a music subscription service is too high, but Pandora and Amazon’s latest updates may provide inspiration to other companies.