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Pandora establishes 40-hour mobile listening cap for free users

Remember the good ol' days of Pandora? Well, it turns out that you were living in it until today. Just this afternoon, the music streaming service revealed that it's become necessary to return to the 40 hour caps from times long ago -- only this time around, it applies only to mobile users. If you may recall, Pandora dropped these caps in September 2011, but steeper royalty costs have forced the company's hand in the matter. What does this mean for you? Well, unless you fit within the four percent of Pandora listeners that jam out on a mobile device for more than 40 hours per month, you're unlikely to ever notice the change. Meanwhile, heavy users will need to pay $0.99 to continue listening for the remainder of the month. Naturally, you can also lay down $3.99 per month (or $36 per year) for Pandora One, which will kick both those limits and pesky ads to the curb.