Digital music provider Pandora has updated its services, launching Pandora Plus, a rebranded and enhanced version of its premium Pandora One product, and improving its free, ad-supported streaming service. The ad-free Pandora Plus comes with higher quality streams, song replays, additional skips and, above all, offline playback for USD 4.99 a month. Pandora said the new predictive offline listening solution handles issues with lost connectivity and cellular data usage by automatically detecting when the signal is interrupted and switching to one of the user’s most-used cached stations.
Pandora also added new features to its free ad-supported option, including the ability to unlock skips and replays by opting into a video ad. The new services will roll out to listeners in the coming months on iOS and Android smartphones, with existing Pandora One users able to transition to the new Pandora Plus service during that period.
The new launches come just a few days after Pandora announced the signing of direct licensing agreements for recorded music with Merlin Network, Sony Music and Universal Music Group, along with The Orchard and over 30 other independent labels and distributors.
