Skip to main content

Pandora to let artists send audio messages to fans

pandora cfo mike herring steve jobs itunes pandora1
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Next time you finish listening to a track on Pandora, don’t be surprised if the artist starts talking to you.

The music streaming service is planning to launch a new feature that lets music makers send audio messages directly to their fans. The messages, which would come after a track finishes playing, might be about a forthcoming album, upcoming tour dates, or simply some background information on the song you’ve just heard.

News of the feature came from Pandora founder Tim Westergren, who was speaking at this week’s Re/code event in Laguna Niguel, California.

Artists such as Lenny Kravitz are already trying out the free service, called Audio Artist Messaging, and if all goes well, we can expect to see it rolled out on a wider scale soon.

Pandora has been pulling a number of moves recently to make its service more attractive to artists. Toward the end of last year, for example, it introduced an analytics tool giving musicians access to data showing the geographic and demographic breakdown of their Pandora audience, as well as information on which tracks are performing the strongest at any given time.

Down the road Westergren said the service could also introduce a virtual ‘tip jar’ to give up-and-coming artists a better chance of earning a few bucks from appreciative fans.

Of course, much of the information contained within artists’ Pandora messages will also be pushed out via their social media channels and websites, all of which are likely to be viewed by a dedicated fan. But placing additional, personalized material right alongside their music could certainly prove popular with artists as they seek to build and maintain a close relationship with their dedicated followers, many of whom may welcome ‘bonus’ content from their favorite musicians. It could, of course, send a few more users Pandora’s way, too.

On the flip side, what if you just want to hear the music and aren’t interested in having the track flow interrupted by spoken remarks? Will there be an option to turn the messaging feature off?

Pandora currently has just over 80 million active users, about 20 million more than its main rival, Spotify, but whereas the latter is available in more than 60 countries, Pandora operates only in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand, with the vast majority of users based in the U.S.

Editors' Recommendations

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)…
WhatsApp may soon let you send disappearing messages in private chats
whatsapp group admin feature telegram

WhatsApp may, at long last, add a feature most of its rivals have been offering for ages. The Facebook-owned messaging service is reportedly trialing a new option that will let you send self-destructing messages in private conversations.

Spotted by WABetaInfo, which reverse-engineers WhatsApp clients to unearth unannounced functions, the messaging app’s latest Android beta comes with a hidden "Delete messages" setting. It allows you to set a blanket expiration timer for all of your messages in a one-on-one personal chat. Once activated, each of your sent messages in that conversation will vanish some time after the recipient has read it. You can have them gone as quickly as an hour or up to a year.

Read more
Send a DM with a real keyboard as Instagram tests messaging on desktop
Screenshot of Instagram Direct Messages on a desktop computer

Instagram’s Direct Messages are migrating to desktop. On Tuesday, January 14, Instagram confirmed that the longstanding mobile messaging option is now being tested on desktop for a small number of users. The test follows a continued slow build-up of Instagram’s notoriously limited web platform.

Instagram says that the experience is similar to the mobile messages, though not identical. As with a mobile device, users can see the number of unread messages at the top of the screen, on that familiar paper airplane icon. The desktop messaging also houses all the Direct Messages in one spot and allows for sending replies. A double tap on mobile likes a message, while a double click does the same on desktop.

Read more
Deezer launches Sony 360 Reality Audio with a new stand-alone app
Promotional image for Sony 360 Reality Audio on Deezer.

 

While some might be still debating the merits of hi-res audio, the music industry is about to make a big shift into surround-sound audio. Of the two leading surround formats -- Dolby Atmos Music and Sony 360 Reality Audio -- Sony 360 appears to be getting a leg-up in the form of big support from Deezer. Not only is Deezer adding Sony 360-encoded tracks to its library of over 50 million songs, but the streaming company has also launched a dedicated app for the format, letting subscribers immerse themselves in the surround format if they choose.

Read more