Pandora
Latest
Pandora AutoPlay spins a custom mix when a playlist ends
Pandora Premium has been out for a few months now, and today the company is adding a notable feature from Rdio, the music-streaming service Pandora purchased in the fall of 2015. AutoPlay does just what it says -- when you finish listening to an album or playlist, Pandora will keep right on playing. But rather than looping the album or playlist, Pandora will generate a queue of songs based specifically on your listening habits. Those songs will also be tailored to the music you were just listening to so it hopefully matches up well with what you're in the mood to hear.
SoundCloud beats Spotify to Xbox One music streaming
SoundCloud keeps expanding its influence to stay competitive with the likes of Spotify and Pandora. It borrowed $70 million last March to enhance its push into new markets, added new tiers to its subscription service, brought Chromecast streaming to iOS and continues to update its offerings with listener-friendly updates like "The Upload." Now, the audio service is coming to Xbox One with a new app for subscribers to SoundCloud Free, Go, or Go+. A beta version of the app should also be available on Windows 10 PCs and tablets by the end of the week.
PayPal sues Pandora over confusingly similar logos
Back in October, Pandora donned a new look and launched a new logo that looked very familiar to anyone who's ever used PayPal before. Now the online payment system is taking Pandora to court, accusing it of ripping off its iconic logo to ride on its popularity. It had some savage words for the music streaming service in the lawsuit it filed, telling the court that Pandora decided on a logo design similar to its own to overcome "serious commercial challenges that threaten its very survival." After all, the filing reads, "Pandora has no obvious path to profitability" as a streaming website known for free service, and it also faces "overwhelming competition from Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music."
Pandora may ditch its ticket business to focus on streaming
Pandora bought Ticketfly in 2015 in a bid to cover more aspects of your music experience, but it's already having second thoughts. Bloomberg sources hear that Pandora is considering selling Ticketfly in case it doesn't find a buyer for the entire company. In other words, it'd return to its focus on streaming music -- important when its on-demand Premium service is still getting off the ground. Pandora has declined to comment, but it's not hard to imagine why the ticketing business might be on the chopping block.
Pandora is looking for a buyer
Pandora's recent relaunch as a Premium on-demand streaming service helped to boost CEO Tim Westergren's case that the company was prepared to take on its bigger rivals like Spotify and Apple Music. The company also made a significant investment in its future by buying up Rdio's design team and later revving up its marketing push to lure new users away from the competition. Now, with the ship apparently headed in the right direction, it appears Pandora is putting itself up for sale and possibly trying to get out while the getting is good. According to a new report from CNBC, Pandora is currently in the process of closing a $150 million investment from hedge fund and private equity firm KKR. As part of the deal, a KKR executive will get a seat on Pandora's board while two current members will step down, but until the deal closes in 30 days, the company is positioning itself as an attractive target for acquisition. "Having secured a significant financial commitment from KKR to strengthen the Company's balance sheet," outgoing Pandora board member James M. P. Feuille said in a statement, "we have positioned the Company to evaluate any potential strategic alternatives, including a sale, in the 30 days before the financing is set to close." While Feuille believes Pandora's future is "exciting," a potential sale could bring a lot of uncertainty for Pandora die-hards and scare off potential new users -- some of whom might like to know if the service will still be around at the end of their 30-day free trial. On the other hand, just because Pandora is making itself available doesn't necessarily mean the company wants to get out of the game entirely. If an attractive buyer doesn't come through, the KKR investment is still a healthy infusion of cash for a popular service that is consistently among the top grossing music apps in the App Store.
Google iOS search now finds streaming movies, music and TV
Finding streaming content on your iPhone is getting easier. Google announced on Wednesday that the newest update to its search app on iOS devices will enable users to find TV shows, movies and songs on streaming services. That includes iTunes, Hulu, Amazon Video, Google Play, YouTube and Spotify.
Pandora's on-demand streaming service is available to everyone
It's been just about a month since Pandora unveiled its attempt at building full-fledged, on-demand streaming music service. Aside from a handful of bugs, the big problem with Pandora Premium was that it was invite only. That's changing today: Pandora Premium is now available for anyone to try. Like just about every other streaming music service, it'll run you $9.99 per month and the app is available for Android and iOS (a web version of Pandora's on-demand service is coming soon).
Finding the perfect soundtrack with Google Home is a bit easier
Paralysis of choice is a real problem, and to help mitigate it, Google has updated the app formerly known as Chromecast. Next time you open Google Home, you'll see a new "Listen" tab at top of your device's screen. A post on The Keyword blog says that the idea is to pull in curated playlists from apps like Google Play Music and Spotify into one place so you always have the perfect soundtrack to beam to your connected speakers. Fewer choices, more freedom. Pandora and the semi-redundant YouTube Music apps are pulled into the fray as well. All told, it's a minor update, but it shows Google's ambitions for the app: becoming a hub for all your digital media needs.
Pandora's new on-demand music service is beautiful, but is that enough?
Rdio wasn't the first streaming-music service I used, but it remains the one that I've used the longest. A combination of smart discovery, social features and excellent design (something most music services still can't nail) made it a great option, but it couldn't attract subscribers the way Spotify could. Eventually, Rdio shut down -- but at the same time, Pandora acquired its assets, which the company used to build Pandora Premium. Today that service is finally ready to launch. As announced in December, Pandora Premium is a combination of traditional radio stations as well as an on-demand competitor to Spotify and Apple Music (with the same $10-per-month price, to boot). Both of those rival services have been rapidly gaining subscribers as of late. The question Pandora has to answer is not only whether Premium can compete but also whether there's enough of an audience for it in an already crowded market.
Spotify gets into podcasting with three music-themed shows
Spotify dipped its toes into podcasting in 2015 by adding pre-existing programs to its lineup. Now it's getting into content creation and rolling out its own shows. The company is launching three original podcasts, and it says that's just the start.
Pandora's radio data now included in Billboard Hot 100
Despite recent layoffs and the fact that it only launched a streaming service last month, Pandora is a giant player in the internet radio market. Billboard unveiled a partnership with the service for its Hot 100 chart, and says it immediately impacted 35 songs. It pushed nine of those up by five or more spots in the rankings, including Sex With Me from Rihanna and Rob $tone's Chill Bill, which leaped 10 places. Lady Gaga's Million Reasons, meanwhile, is now on the Hot 100 thanks to Pandora, Billboard says.
Pandora cuts its workforce by 7 percent
Streaming is big business, although most of the companies in the space keep a nervous eye on their bank balances. Pandora, the internet radio service that seemed most at risk, has said that it's now doing better, thank you very much. The company has posted its latest financial figures, boasting that it now has 4.3 million paid subscribers and has trimmed some of its losses. Which is nice, although there's a poison pill buried in that news: the company will cut seven percent of its workforce in pursuit of "operational efficiency."
Samsung goes big on smart fridges with 10 new models
Samsung must have done alright with its crazy WiFi-connected smart fridges last year, because it's launching six more in 2017, for a total of 10. That includes both three-door, four-door and four-door "flex" models with dual freezers (shown above). It's also updated the fridge's OS to Family Hub 2.0 with a new interface that lets everyone have a profile, complete with avatar. From there, you can share photos, calendars and handwritten memos on your fridge's giant 21.5-inch LED touchscreen. Voice control and entertainment apps like Pandora are on offer as well.
Cassini captures Titan's mysterious clouds on cam
It's business as usual for the Cassini spacecraft until it's time to say goodbye in September 2017, and some of the latest images it captured tell us more about Saturn's moons. The spacecraft's cameras, for one, produced two very different views of Titan's high northern latitudes. As you can see in the image after the break, one (the black-and-white photo) clearly shows the surface features of Saturn's largest moon. The other shows a moon whose surface is obscured by bright clouds. These were taken within the same period during the spacecraft's Titan flybys on June 7th and July 25th.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 17: Mansion on the Hill
Executive editor Christopher Trout and reviews editor Cherlynn Low join host Terrence O'Brien to talk about the week's biggest news, including: Pandora Premium, Fitbit's purchase of Pebble and the gaming industry's nostalgia overload. Then Chris will tell the panel about his investigation into a failed gaming accessory that's found a second life as a sex toy -- clearly things get a little NSFW. Then all three will talk about what Amazon Go and other advancements in automation and mean for low-skill and low-wage jobs.
Pandora officially unveils its long-awaited Spotify competitor
It isn't a secret that Pandora was planning to launch a full-fledged Spotify competitor. The company said as much last year when it bought Rdio, which had filed for bankruptcy. But today, at a lavish event in New York City, Pandora gave a small group of VIPs and reporters a look at the new streaming service. It's called Pandora Premium, and, as you'd expect, it offers on-demand access to a massive music catalog. And it looks a lot like Rdio, from the brief glance we have seen so far. But Pandora is leveraging the years of information it has about how its users listen to music to provide the all-important recommendations necessary to help people find new songs.
Pandora's new website points to an on-demand future
Pandora has generated a lot of buzz about its rumored on-demand platform based on Rdio, and is working on an extensive re-branding ahead of that. It recently unveiled a new logo, and today launched a completely revamped website. As part of the new changes, you'll now see radio stations in a grid of album art instead of an ordered list, much like with Google Play Music. The control bar with thumbs up/thumbs down, play, pause and song information has moved from the top of the screen to the very bottom now as well.
Recommended Reading: President Obama on science and innovation
Barack Obama: Now Is the Greatest Time to Be Alive President Barack Obama, Wired The White House Frontiers Conference took place this week to "explore the future of innovation here and around the world." President Obama is also guest editor for the November issue of Wired where he discusses science and other advancements in both essay and interview form. Above is the president's writing on technology and more. There's also a joint interview with MIT's Joi Ito where the two discuss AI, self-driving cars and and other futuristic topics with Wired's Scott Dadich.
Pandora's iMessage app lets you share songs and stickers
Yesterday, Pandora unveiled a new brand image, but today they're actually putting some new features into the app. iOS users now have access to an iMessage app that easily lets you share what you're listening to with your friends. Of course, since Pandora doesn't have on-demand music (yet), your friend will only have the option to start a new Pandora station based on the artist. They'll at least be able to hear a preview of the song you shared, though.
Pandora rebrand hints at its future in on-demand music
Pandora has been promising a big shift to on-demand music ever since it bought Rdio in 2015, and it's hinting at that sea change through a very conspicuous way: its branding. The company has given itself a new look that, as the company puts it, reflects the nature of music as a "personal experience." The days of that staid-looking "P" and matching word logo are over. Instead, you'll see a look more reminiscent of a tech startup, with a "dynamic" brand that mixes up patterns and colors.
