Pandora software is pre-installed in many car entertainment systems, too. And, it’s included in many other devices like smart TV sets, DVD players, Roku and TiVo ( TiVo) boxes, and table top radios. It’s on Android and BlackBerry ( BBRY) devices, where Apple will likely never challenge. Pandora also remains much more widely available. And they recently eliminated a limit of 40 hours of free listening per month on mobile devices. Pandora this week also overhauled their iPad software, adding new features to help people post on Facebook ( FB) and Twitter and buy song tracks directly from iTunes.

Selling shareholders got another $130 million. The secondary offering raised a $325 million war chest that could be used on acquisitions, additional marketing or licensing more music.

Related: Good News, Apple Fans: The New iPhones Are Pretty Cool The users may not even realize that they paid anything to get rid of the commercials. “We’re providing a deep breadth of artists with unmatched exposure while delivering each individual listener the best personalized radio experience,” a spokeswoman says.Īnother iTunes advantage is that because many users have already paid $25 for iTunes Match, the new radio service starts off commercial-free immediately. Pandora counters that since 95% of its songs are played every month, it has a higher quality library. “iTunes Radio seems, so far, to be doing a better job.” “Pandora often seems to get stuck on certain tracks or moods leading to the same tracks popping up fairly often,” says 40-year-old, part time DJ Michael Hanscom. Pandora, which relies on mandatory licensing rules, has a library of just 1 million songs. Since Apple struck deals directly with the big music labels, its service includes 27 million songs. Subscribers who pay Pandora $36 a year or people who buy Apple’s iTunes Match service for $25 go ad-free.īeyond the lower price, Apple has at least two key advantages. Instead, they pick a “station” that’s based on a genre or artist they like. Listeners can’t choose exactly the songs they want to hear. “Apple is out of the gate now and we know what it is and it’s nothing special,” Wedge Partners analyst Martin Pyykkonen said, summing up the pro-Pandora consensus.īoth services work in a similar way. “You have a lot of overlap between the two franchises,” says Russ Crupnick, senior vice president at NPD. About 42% of the 67 million people who actively used iTunes monthly are Pandora users, according to NPD. “I don't plan on using Pandora any more.”Ĭelebrities like Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus also got on board the iTunes bandwagon, as well.Ī large portion of Pandora’s base comes from Apple product owners. Ryan, an iPhone owner who had used Pandora for a couple of years, says the new service makes it much easier to buy songs he likes. “iTunes Radio just seems more convenient,” says Fordham University junior Connor Ryan, one of the many tweeting about switching. Tweeters were extremely positive about iTunes Radio and many said they planned to switch from Pandora. And a new version of the free iTunes program added the radio feature for Mac and Windows PC users. Most of the 400 million iPhones and iPads sold in the last two years will end up with the new iOS 7software. 17, Twitter mentions of iTunes Radio shot up to almost 250 times their level a few days earlier, monitoring service Topsy says. Related: Forget Music Service, Apple TV is What Really Matters: Henry BlodgetĪfter Apple made iOS 7 with the new radio feature available for download on Sept. This week, the stock shot up further to an all-time high, as strong investor demand let Pandora increase a secondary stock offering by 30%.īut the positive momentum is at risk as Apple ( AAPL) this week launched a copycat service, called iTunes Radio, to hundreds of millions of iTunes users.Įarly anecdotal signs indicate that iTunes Radio may be cutting into Pandora’s reported base of 72 million monthly active listeners. Pandora Media ( P) is one of the hottest stocks of the year, about to triple in price, as listeners and advertisers have flocked to its online radio service.

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