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Pandora Stabilizes, No Longer Completely Free

Posted by Soulskill on from the under-a-buck dept.

AbyssWyrm writes "Yesterday, Pandora founder Tim Westergren announced that the music service was on safe ground once again, but will no longer be free for all users. Instead, it will be really cheap — for those with a free account, there will be a cap of 40 hours per month, and a user may pay a one-time fee of $0.99 to resume unlimited listening to music for a month. According to the blog entry, this will affect the top 10% of listeners. Certainly not a bad deal considering the price, and I suspect that Pandora is one of few free internet resources whose users are loyal enough to pay a small fee to keep it afloat. Pandora's future had been uncertain ever since the royalty rates for internet radio were increased in 2007."

5 of 268 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Ads & paid use by CopaceticOpus · · Score: 5, Funny

    It is unprecedented. People will never pay for a service which also includes ads, unless you count magazines, newspapers, cable TV, movies, and riding the bus.

    And yes, 99 cents per month for a service you use for dozens of hours is an outrage. The price jumped from $0.00 to $0.99 just today. If this trend continues, the service will cost over $300/month after just one year. Let's all get really mad!

  2. Re:Ads & paid use by HasselhoffThePaladin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Always Relevant: XKCD

  3. Have you read this? by 2obvious4u · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Piracy Tips for Consumers, I was reading the "royalty rates" link and saw that the RIAA was behind it, so I went to their website and found this jewel.
    Of note: Watch for Compilations that are "Too Good to Be True". Why are they too good to be true? If customers would want that compilation why haven't you sold it to them?
    Even better: Trust your ear: The sound quality of pirate CDs is often poor or inconsistent. It is a freaking digital copy, it is the exact same quality! Does anyone actually believe this stuff?

  4. Re:Fail by Sylos · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Don't hate pandora for this. Hate the record labels. Pandora is just trying to survive, but the RIAA is a bunch of bastards who want to milk everyone for money.

    --
    'Number-memorizing Chinese people.'-Anon
  5. That does it! by Mordac · · Score: 5, Funny

    As a top ten percent user, this is it, the final straw. I'll pay the whole $3 a month for premium service. I hope they're happy, they've converted me from a non-paying user to a paid subscriber.

    I hit the 40 hours probably the first week of every month, I require a soundtrack to be able to program, and Pandora works wonders for me.