Pandora tries to boost revenue, implements audio ads

By on Jan 20, 2009 at 6:09 PM
General January 20, 2009

We’ve covered Pandora’s troubles before here on BGR and while the custom internet radio provider struggles to strike a workable deal with the RIAA, subscriptions just aren’t covering the bills apparently. Pandora, for those unaware, is a fantastic streaming music service that creates custom stations based on the tonal qualities of songs in its extensive catalog. By way of Twitter, Pandora clarified the fact that it has implemented audio ads in its guest streams. In other words, non-paying Pandora users may hear audio advertisements while subscribers ($36/year) will continue to enjoy unlimited music without interruption. No, we’re not talking about anything close to terrestrial radio’s music to ad ratio of 1:1 or worse – just a quick word from a sponsor every now and then. The move is a logical one of course, and we wouldn’t be surprised if Pandora ends up increasing its subscription charges as well. Users happy about the addition of audio commercials can send thank you notes directly to SoundExchange and the RIAA. Those of you unhappy about the news, will it stop you from using the service – or push you to subscribe?

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10 Comments

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  • Tom

    Slacker uses 30 second commercials after about every 7-8 songs for non paying users (as well as 6 skips per station per hour). Makes sense for ads. I’ll probably end up paying for my account when the trial expires. Can’t blame Pandora for it.

  • Randomguy

    I think he meant “We gotta pay the hoe’s bills”.

  • Roger That

    “we’re not talking about anything close to terrestrial radio’s music to ad ratio of 1:1 or worse”

    Wow. Your ignorance is astounding. I can understand the poor perception terrestrial radio gets, but until anything even similar to Pandora achieves terrestrial radio’s reach, they’re hardly the Savior.

  • Edgar J.

    I wouldn’t mind a small 15 second ad here and there. I’ll still be using it for my Internet radio needs.

    If anything, I’d rather buy $36 worth of songs on iTunes. I only carry less than 150 songs on my iPhone.

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: Phoenix AZ, 85041

  • http://asianwomenholdingthings.com AsianWomenHoldingThings

    I’ve listened for a couple hours with no commercial that I am aware of.
    If I heard one, it must have been pretty ineffective. Oh, wait, this is radio, right? so of course I it didn’t register. (Roger That)

  • http://www.espressoreport.com Richard Ward

    Anyone who doesn’t want satellite radio and needs the streaming goodness on their laptop is probably savvy enough to download it (Read: free/illegal).

    This is probably what their real problem is.

  • faisal

    pandora and slacker both work on 2g networks with a smart phone, and that is their killer feature. being able to stream my custom radio stations to my car through my phone on 3g or edge has replaced the need for a mp3 player, radio or cd player for me.

  • http://dailygeek.pressdemocrat.com Nathan

    Pandora founder Tim Westergren confirmed the changes applied to the iPhone application, and said the 15-second audio ads should only appear about once every two hours. More details at dailygeek.pressdemocrat.com

  • Cody

    Pandora has changed my life! I now listen to the music I like, without having to worry about hearing the same playlist over, and over again.

    This Will definately push me to subscribe.

  • http://www.webinometry.com/ Rathan Haran

    It’s good to see companies stop giving away brilliant technology for free on the web. The whole purpose of the web was to make very scalable businesses that everyone can get to. Do to the scale of reach, the cost should be spread to everyone that benefits from it, or great solutions end up dieing.

    Kudos to Pandora, and I love their product

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