Pandora Introduces $4.99 Per Month Subscription Service

Today, Pandora has launched its new subscription service, Pandora Plus. The $4.99 per month service is an ad-free experience that offers more skips, more replays, and offline listening that addresses lost connectivity and data usage. The service will become available on iOS and Android in the coming months. The new service replaces Pandora One, the previous ad-free service that also cost $4.99 per month which touts 4 million subscribers, according to the company.

In November 2015, Pandora announced a deal to acquire “key assets” from streaming service Rdio, which was filing for bankruptcy. The agreement laid the groundwork for Pandora, which currently offers customized streaming radio stations, to launch a fully on-demand service like Spotify or Apple Music. Earlier this year, Pandora CEO Tim Westergren confirmed to Pitchfork that the company was working on a service that would allow listeners to choose songs on demand. In a statement, Westergren clarifies that Pandora will launch its on-demand service later this year.

On September 13, Pandora announced it had signed direct licensing agreements with major labels Sony Music and Universal Music Group, along with Merlin Network, which represents more than 20,000 independent record labels. Pandora was still negotiating with the third remaining major label, Warner Music Group, the AP reported.

Read our exploration of the streaming industry’s push to attract paying subscribers, “Is the Era of Free Streaming Music Coming to an End?”

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