Pandora Power Users Get the Boot
In an under the radar blog post today, Pandora gently massaged their users with a new 40 hour per month limit on free mobile listening.
The new limit is said to affect less than 4% of their total monthly listeners. As we recently noted, the average listener is only tuning in for an average of 21 hours per month across all platforms so, the vast majority of users will be left unfazed.
Pandora notes ongoing increases in royalty rates as the cause for this new 40 hour rule. The streaming music company has been hit with an increase of 25% over the last 3 years and with an additional 16% coming in the next two years, things aren’t exactly looking any better.
Power users can still use and abuse the desktop platform to their hearts delight but, if they want more than 40 hours of mobile, they will have to pay $0.99 for anything over 40 hours, or subscribe to the $3.99 per month Pandora One plan ($36 per year).
Those of you wondering where the tipping point for royalty rates might be… we just hit it. The question now is, will SoundExchange work with music streaming services, or will they cut off their nose to spite their face?
Question…if you listen to Pandora on your ipad at home thru wifi…does that register as a desktop? Or is it still considered mobile?
As far as I can tell, if you’re in the mobile app, its considered mobile.
I tried Pandora several times and I didn’t really get what I wanted. Additonally, I didn’t go there frequently so often times the website had been changed and I had to work the new maze.
Surprisingly, I found You Tube to be an infinitely better source for the obscure recordings I like.
On the marketing side, all of these internet music site that have developed remind me of all of the automobile manufacturers that appeared after WW2. By 1960, that number had dwindled and soon it would be the Big Three and the foreign imports.
The same attrition will happen with the internet music providers. However attractive their format may be, they won’t be able to make enough money.
Another useless comment from a siriusxm fan investor,
You don’t like Pandora…. So what? Plenty of people do.
A couple will be able to make enough money, sound exchange will make sure of that.
Bawse, how do you know James G is a Sirius fan or investor?
DJ Cool, I became a Sirus subscriber in 2003. I subscribed because I’m a “travelin man” through a lot of areas with poor terrestial radio connection.
I loved the product so I bought the company.
The principle reason I am unimpressed with Pandora or any of the other internet music services is their business model can be copied, creating too much competition.
Also, simply put, internet radio is a music book. SiriusXM, with all it’s content, is a set of encyclopedia books!
You are absolutely correct, James G. There’s that saying, “You get what you pay for.” SiriusXM might cost more (though in reality it costs less because the internet’s gonna get your $$$ at some point), and in terms of bang for the buck, it isn’t even close. Dashboards are going to look like fighter plane cockpits soon, but it doesn’t matter to me as long as I can simply hit one button, and have tons of content at my disposal. Satellite radio is simple, it works, and all it has to do is stay in competition mode with these digital juke boxes and they’ll be fine. Liberty Media didn’t buy this thing just to watch it fall by the wayside. If they fix the customer service problems, add some real diversity to the music/playlists, and show the same love for listeners as the listeners show for the service, then they’ll be fine. I just hope they address these problems; it’s long overdue, and should have been dealt with years ago. I want great content, diversity, and spontaneity. I want simplicity. I want radio. None of these other services can provide me with that. Satellite radio hasn’t even come close to exploiting its potential. Lets just hope that Liberty/Malone aspire to make sat radio great, instead of just “good enough.”