Pandora has announced that Pandora Premium, its first ever on-demand streaming tier, launches this week. Invites for a free trial of the service will be given to select listeners on March 15 and an option to upgrade will be available to all listeners over the coming weeks.
For $9.99 a month, Premium combines 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. Listeners can now curate their music experience.
"Every day tens of millions of people trust us to choose the exact right song for them. That's why they spend more time with Pandora than any other music service," said 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."
Listeners who start a trial will see all of their stations and thumbed up songs and a "Now Playing" experience, which pulls a signature color from the album art and changes as each track plays. New features are designed to make finding and collecting music and building playlists easy:
- Playlists, not work lists: Start a playlist with one or two songs of your choice, tap "Add Similar Songs" and put the power of Pandora's Music Genome Project to work to create a playlist for any activity, mood or party.
- All your thumbs up: Every song you've thumbed up on Pandora is immediately available in your "My Thumbs Up" playlist. Thumb up a few tracks on any Pandora radio station and Premium will automatically create a new playlist of these songs too.
- New music for you... and only you: Browse is stocked with personalized suggestions for the latest releases from current and soon-to-be favorites whether you listen to classical, metal, jazz, hip hop, country and everything in between.
- Offline mode: Download any album, song, station or playlist you want and avoid moments of silence when you lose a signal.
- Search that knows you: Pandora's team of curators, music analysts and data scientists have sifted through millions of tracks to help you quickly find what you really want. No more wading through covers, karaoke versions or tribute tracks to get to your favorite tune.
Existing Pandora Plus subscribers will enjoy six months of Premium for no additional charge. Trial lengths for existing ad-supported listeners and those new to the streaming site vary. Premium is available now for iOS and Android, in the car via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and on Google Chromecast. It will be available on other platforms, including popular connected devices and web, in the coming months.
For more information, visit Pandora.com.
