Submitted by Frank Macey on
Music lovers have a new option for streaming tracks on the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Pandora Premium is rolling out to all users, which means it can be added via the Pandora iOS app. The monthly subscription service offers on-demand listening features beyond the lower tier of Pandora Plus and the company's free radio. Beyond creating personalized radio stations that are ad-supported, Pandora Premium represents more competition for rivals Apple Music and Spotify.
According to the Pandora blog, Pandora Premium will "change the way you listen to music". Besides dropping ads, which is also a feature of Pandora Plus, the highest tier offers a My thumbs Up playlist including every song you've ever thumbed up. Besides playing personalized radio stations, playlists of tracks can be crafted.
Specific songs and albums can be played, tracks can be downloaded for offline listening, and Pandora Premium offers unlimited skips and replays. Pandora leverages the Music Genome Project with data from over 81 million users to provide customized music recommendations tailored to each listener. Music playlists can be expanded using the built-in "Add Similar Songs" button. Not only this, but subscribers can enjoy higher quality audio. Pandora says there are even more features in the pipeline.
Pandora Premium costs $9.99 per month, however the service is listed on the iOS App Store as an In-App Purchase costing $12.99 per month. Pandora also offers a 60-day free trial of Premium.
Pandora Music & Radio can be found free on iTunes and requires iOS 9.0 or later to install.