Pandora To Add Subscription Service And Include Comedy And Podcasts

Pandora has made the most out of the Music Genome Project that has been tackled on since its beginning in 2000. This internet radio service has planned on making more options of entertainment available, for the more than 77 million listeners using this product.

In addition to its music streaming, Pandora has already began the process of adding comedy content and podcasts, such as This American Life and Serial. This add-on is expected to gain the company about 10 million listeners.

Pandora has made this plan to attract more listeners, possibly more subscribers, and more advertisers. This helps Pandora create a diversity of content that many listeners seek for. It has been shown that most of the listeners search for  non-audio content, such as shows that Netflix or Amazon.com has released on its site and app. Listeners seek for content that can be replayed as much as they desire, while also having content that comes from a known source. According to The Motley Fool, Tim Westergren, the CEO of Pandora, had this to say about what Pandora is currently doing:

Research confirms that listeners would like to hear more non‐music content but are currently frustrated by discovery. Pandora’s ability to surface relevant content to a scaled and engaged audience uniquely positions us to solve this problem. Additionally, listeners had confirmed that content offered by Pandora is viewed as more legitimate than unknown sources, increasing both their appetite and willingness to engage with new genres on the platform.

With subscribers who would pay for the benefits such as no ads, more skips and fewer timeouts, according to Fader, and the advertisers who would pay for a spot on a station to promote themselves, Pandora could continue to develop a better cost structure. From the income the company can receive from these new features added, paying for licensing fees can be an easier task. Besides paying for fees, the income could also help Pandora get more content from different genres. Overall, this can help Pandora fight against its competitors like Spotify.