The company previously limited free monthly desktop usage to
40 hours, but it lifted the cap in September 2011. According to telecrunch.com,
CEO Joe Kennedy suggested that Pandora’s mobile business is in a similar
position to its desktop business a few years ago — it needs to make more money.
At the same time, Kennedy said his goal is still to offer free music to
everyone.
He also noted that there’s a big difference between mobile
and desktop usage patterns — there are desktop users who basically listen to
Pandora all day while they’re at work, so a larger percentage of them that
exceeded the monthly limit. On mobile, however, the cap should only affect 4
percent of users.
That may not be much consolation if you’re in that 4
percent. Kennedy said the company is also trying to make the system as
straightforward as possible. You’ll get an alert when you reach 85 percent of
the limit, and when you hit the cap, there are a couple of pricing options: You
can pay a one-time fee of 99 cents to get unlimited listening for the rest of the
month, or you can sign up for a Pandora One subscription, which includes
unlimited, advertising-free songs.
Kennedy is placing much of the blame on
the rising cost of music — he said that per-track royalty rates have increased
25 percent in the past three years, with an additional 16 percent increase
expected over the next two years.
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