Pandora Now Capped At 40 Hours Per Month

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I like how they say this 40 hour per month cap on free accounts will only affect 4% of listeners. If the number is really that small, then why do it? Thanks to Gabe for the link.

This week we will begin communicating directly with a small number of our listeners as we introduce a 40-hour-per-month limit on free mobile listening. Most of you reading this will never hit the limit. In fact, it will affect less than 4% of our total monthly active listeners. For perspective, the average listener spends approximately 20 hours listening to Pandora across all devices in any given month.
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Oh well..will just encourage people to try the better options out there anyhow.
 
Only for mobile devices, and if you hit the limit you can "unlock" unlimited for only $0.99

I don't understand why people are so upset over this, I've been paying for Pandora since 2003 when it was pay only.
Pandora One is WELL worth $36 a year.
 
Don't see why this is such a big deal. It only hits mobile users, and it's $36 a year to not have to worry about it. I've been meaning to sign up for Pandora One anyway.
 
AMD T-type said:
Only for mobile devices, and if you hit the limit you can "unlock" unlimited for only $0.99

I don't understand why people are so upset over this, I've been paying for Pandora since 2003 when it was pay only.
Pandora One is WELL worth $36 a year.
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What does it get you for 36?
 
I tried it but you cant actually pick the songs you want right? It takes your preferences and plays similar to avoid copyright issues last I looked into it. I only tried it for like 2 days and didn't bother to research it - just didn't seem worth the hassle with every other option out there.
 
wra18th said:
My wife isn't going to be happy.........:(
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Brother time to skip on a game and upgrade the wife's account. I promise you its money well spent especially if your lady requires "baby making music" to get in the mood. If she only requires your sweet smile then disregard this message.
 
TheToE! said:
What does it get you for 36?
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No ads
Higher Audio Quality (192K bitrate instead of 128K bitrate) this alone is worth it
Adobe Air desktop app
More skips
5 hours of playtime without prompting to continue
 
JayteeBates said:
I tried it but you cant actually pick the songs you want right?
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I actually prefer this when I'm listening at work. First I don't want the hassle of trying to manage my playlist while I'm working. And second, it introduces me to a lot of artists that I otherwise may not have even known about. My only complaint is that in some of the more obscure genres they tend to play the same songs too much, and will randomly stray into completely different genres for no apparent reason. A quick thumbs down usually fixes that however.
 
ZenDragon said:
They were already doing this when I first started using Pandora. What changed? o_O
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This. I came to check if this was a necro thread. They've been limiting to 40 hours per month for a while now on the desktop? :confused: Is this just extending that limit to mobile devices?

I've been meaning to look into spotify...
 
Absentee said:
This. I came to check if this was a necro thread. They've been limiting to 40 hours per month for a while now on the desktop? :confused: Is this just extending that limit to mobile devices?

I've been meaning to look into spotify...
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This is incorrect, they stated doing this years ago but stopped sometime in 2011.
 
For the price upgrading to the pay service should be a no brainer. The only reason I have a smart phone is for Pandora/Winamp at work. I've found dozens of artists I had never heard of through Pandora, and easily listen to 100+ hours a month. It's one of the few services I have that I would not be upset if they raise the sub on.
 
I agree with Steve, if it's only 4% of users, why even bother to cap them......I say bullschizzle, has to be more to make them do this.

Look at your expenses sometime and look at what you pay for now....even 3 bucks a month.....that you used to get for "free".

My kids are killing me with this shit to the tune of $200 a month.......Xbox,iTunes, Amazon rentals, Pandora, XM/Sirius, food, clothes, socks, coats....(j/k) you get the picture.;)
 
RCGodward said:
Don't see why this is such a big deal. It only hits mobile users, and it's $36 a year to not have to worry about it. I've been meaning to sign up for Pandora One anyway.
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Yeah, I don't mind paying the $36 a year. I listen to it for 2+ hours a day between the drive home from work, the gym, and while web surfing on my home PC. No adds is great and the Pandora One app for the desktop is nice too.
 
Hmm.. Looks like I'll have to try some alternate free services for background music @ the office. I remember a couple years back when they did this I'd always run out 1/2 - 3/4 the way through the month. If spotify & others aren't as good I guess I'll pay the 36 bucks.
 
They're doing it because those 4% of listeners are probably using extremely heavily - maybe 20% of the total listening or more - and it likely screws up their numbers for the purposes of advertising.

But I'm sure some well-meaning internet activists will organize a boycott and force Pandora to rescind this policy change, which will only squeeze Pandora harder and put them closer to going out of business.

You wanna get upset at companies that serve you music? Get mad at the record companies that refuse to fully join the digital age.
 
Chimay said:
Hmm.. Looks like I'll have to try some alternate free services for background music @ the office. I remember a couple years back when they did this I'd always run out 1/2 - 3/4 the way through the month. If spotify & others aren't as good I guess I'll pay the 36 bucks.
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If you are doing this on your phone, then spotify is more expensive.
 
I have been a paid subscriber for 5 or 6 years so no big deal for me ... considering that everyone's darling in streaming (Spotify) is either $60 or $120 a year (vs the $36 for Pandora) I still consider Pandora a bargain ;)
 
AMD T-type said:
No ads
Higher Audio Quality (192K bitrate instead of 128K bitrate) this alone is worth it
Adobe Air desktop app
More skips
5 hours of playtime without prompting to continue
Click to expand...

So.. everything I get on iheartradio for free without the 5 hour cap. Why do you pay for this again?
 
Whatever. I mostly use Pandora to identify new music, and once I've found something that I actually like, I then "acquire" it in a more permanent form.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Oh well..will just encourage people to try the better options out there anyhow.
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I'm open to suggestions. I've always liked XMs offering but they want way too much now. Pandora seems to play the same 10 songs over on their predefined stations. So this is just a final nail.
 
for abusers it is only 12 dollars a month for them. dont need to get their pandora one.
 
Between them and Spotify and the other countless internet radio channels who cares?
 
Has I <3 radio not finished wiping pandora off the face of the earth with the help of slacker radio, and last.fm yet? haha 40 hours? I haven't used pandora for music since 2 years ago when I "went over my cap" @ like 60 hours or something. You're explaing you're dying, but you're dead to me already.
 
I like my Pandora sub. Use it in the car to replace XM. $36 bucks a year. Didn't much like slacker and I heart radio is not for me.
 
Slacker's music discovery is just not up to par vs Pandora IMHO.

Spotify's radio is just too damn repetitive. I may cancel my Spotify soon.
 
Maybe I'm just a 24 year old that is an old geyser, but who the fuck in their right might thinks that listening to a radio is "well worth" $36? *shrug*

Anyhow so what is the story again? Pandora limiting time to 40 hours per month? Oh darn, I guess I'll have to make another account when the 40 hours runs out...
 
AMD T-type said:
Only for mobile devices, and if you hit the limit you can "unlock" unlimited for only $0.99

I don't understand why people are so upset over this, I've been paying for Pandora since 2003 when it was pay only.
Pandora One is WELL worth $36 a year.
Click to expand...

Amen



Cyraxx said:
Maybe I'm just a 24 year old that is an old geyser, but who the fuck in their right might thinks that listening to a radio is "well worth" $36? *shrug*
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That is $36 per YEAR with no ads. Listen to the kind of music you want to hear.Find new stuff you like that you'd never find out about on regular radio.
 
Pandora has a reported 65.6 million users, 4% of that is 2.6 million. I would think that by cutting those people off would offer a substantial bandwidth and license savings...?

$36 a year isn't really a hardship for many people.
 
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