Popular Internet radio provider, Pandora are impacted by a new deal in which webcasters are covered by an “alternative set of rates and terms” from SoundExchange, the group managing performers’ royalties in the U.S. This should put Pandora, and other online streaming music services, in a much better position for survival going forward.
Users of the free, ad-supported version of Pandora are now limited to 40 hours of audio streaming per month, but if those are exceeded, users can pay $.99 to continue using Pandora through the end of the month. Subscribers to the paid version of Pandora ($36/yr), of course, won’t have to pay the $.99 fee. If you use Pandora frequently, the ad-free “Pandora One” service isn’t a bad deal, with a desktop app thrown in – this new $.99 fee makes it even more attractive.
I should note that I think the paid service is a good deal mostly because it removes 2 annoyances:
1. No more commercials/ads
2. No $.99 thing if you happen to ever run into that.
But the free version should be just fine for most folks as well.