Skip to main content

Pandora introduces 40-hour monthly limit on free mobile listening, rising royalty rates to blame

Pandora Music Genome ProjectIn a bid to deal with escalating costs, streaming radio service Pandora is about to impose a 40-hour limit for mobile usage of its free, ad-supported service.

The company announced in a blog post on Wednesday that from March 1 users will be asked to pay a fee if they wish to use the service beyond the 40-hour mark. The move to cap the free service comes in an effort to deal with rising royalty rates, founder and boss Tim Westergren said in the post.

However, according to Pandora’s calculations, the new rule will only affect about 4 percent of its total monthly active listeners. The average listener uses the service for around 20 hours a month, the California-based company said.

“Pandora’s per-track royalty rates have increased more than 25 percent over the last three years, including 9 percent in 2013 alone and are scheduled to increase an additional 16 percent over the next two years,” Westergren explained in the post. “After a close look at our overall listening, a 40-hour-per-month mobile listening limit allows us to manage these escalating costs with minimal listener disruption.”

When users come close to hitting the 40-hour limit, they’ll receive a message from Pandora outlining a number of ways they can continue to use the service. These include switching to a desktop or laptop computer, (the service will continue to run without a cap on these machines) or paying a buck for unlimited listening for the rest of the month. They can also subscribe to Pandora One for unlimited ad-free listening.

“In short, this is an effort to balance the reality of increasing royalty costs with our desire to maximize access to free listening on Pandora,” Westergren said.

Some Pandora users will recall the service once had a cap in place for desktop usage. This was scrapped in 2011, suggesting the current cap may not be in place permanently. And with the new mobile limit expected to affect so few users, and only a dollar being charged for going beyond 40 hours, it’s unlikely we’re going to see too many Pandora users running for the exit.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Visible just made its unlimited 5G plan better than ever
Visible wireless phones and plans featured

Digital wireless service provider Visible has announced upgrades to its premium Visible+ phone plan. The highlight is a new Global Pass feature that allows Visible customers to use their phones in 140 countries worldwide.

The Visible Global Pass offers unlimited talk and text services, along with 2GB of high-speed data, for a flat rate of $10 per day. Visible+ members can also enjoy a free Global Pass usage day every month. The activation process can be done through the Visible app.

Read more
The OnePlus Watch 2 is the Wear OS smartwatch I’ve been waiting for
Person wearing OnePlus Watch 2 with a green strap on their left wrist.

The OnePlus Watch 2 -- the company's first Wear OS watch -- has entered a market that Samsung dominates. However, OnePlus' popularity as a smartphone brand can be expected to bring small, yet meaningful changes that benefit not only OnePlus users, but all of the Wear OS segment in general.

For almost a decade, Samsung and Apple have predominantly been the default options if you want a smartwatch that is actually useful and goes beyond flashy features. With Samsung shifting gears and migrating from its own Tizen OS to the (relatively) more universal Wear OS platform and Google releasing its own Pixel Watch after struggling with an identity crisis in the smartwatch world, the platform has much more traction than it did a few years ago. As OnePlus carves its way into the segment, it has the opportunity to entice people who don't wish to live within Samsung's limitations when using a Galaxy Watch with another brand's phone.

Read more
Buying an iPad Mini today? You need to know about this deal
The Apple Pencil attaches to the iPad mini magnetically.

If you've had an eye on iPad deals for the latest model of the Apple iPad Mini for a while now, this may be the offer that you've been waiting for -- a $100 discount from Best Buy on the tablet's Wi-Fi, 64GB model, slashing its price to $400 from $500. It's still pretty popular years after its release, so we don't expect stocks of the device for this sale to last long. If you're thinking about taking advantage of this bargain, you better push through with your purchase as soon as possible to make sure that you don't miss out on the savings.

Why you should buy the Apple iPad Mini 2021
The latest generation of the Apple iPad Mini was released in 2021, but it's still featured in our roundup of the best iPads because it's the model that you should buy if you want a smaller and more compact version of Apple's tablets. Its 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display is smaller than the screens of its peers, but it's still big enough to enjoy watching streaming shows and browsing websites, while allowing you to use the device with one hand. Unlike its predecessor, there's no Home button, so the Touch ID sensor is instead built into the power button at the side of the Apple iPad Mini 2021.

Read more