14 DAY TRIAL // Pandora management has recently confirmed that the company will be lifting its 40-hour monthly cap for mobile users, and now the music streaming service has deployed an updated iOS app as well.
Pandora Radio version 4.5 comes with a sleep timer (with 15, 30, or 60-minute options) to allow users to continue playing their favorite station until they fall asleep. The rest of the update is packed with bug fixes and improvements, says Pandora.
The company recently lifted its 40-hour music streaming cap for mobile users, likely ahead of the iTunes Radio launch which will undoubtedly give the service a run for its money.
However, Pandora CEO Joe Kennedy tells AllThingsD that they’re not scared by the new kid on the block.
“We've now been around for eight years. We've seen competitors large and small enter the market and, in some cases, exit the market. I've never seen an analysis that identifies an effect from any competitor… we don’t see the picture changing.”
Editor’s note What else is he going to say? Everyone with even the faintest interest in the music business knows that the Cupertino giant has hundreds of millions of subscribers to its iTunes Store. It’s really the math that takes care of it all.
Apple could be playing back the same song over and over again 24 hours straight and they’d still take a bite out of Pandora’s piece of the pie.
Then again, Pandora’s boss is right about one thing. And that’s Apple’s being extremely late to the party. Momentum is what got Pandora to where it is, and it’s what it will keep its sails high through any potential storm.
Be that as it may, Apple will have its say in September, when iTunes Radio finally becomes available as a free service to everyone with an iDevice or iTunes installed (including Windows users).