There had been some speculation that Pandora’s new streaming service would be available any day, but CEO Tim Westergren said the new service would be launched “by the end of the year.”
The company is still trying to lock down an agreement with Warner Music, the last of the big three labels not to be signed on to Pandora’s new streaming service. Westergren said there are constructive conversations going on now with Warner, and they hope to have them onboard at launch.
Westergren was also reluctant to give out any details on what the new paid subscription will include, other than to continue to say it will not be a “me too” product and that Pandora One “is about to get a whole lot better.” Pandora plans to use customer data to implement the new products; for example, it has identified, from its data, what it believes prevents customers from using the product longer by discovering what turns them away. One example might be when a customer hears a song and then is unable to go back and listen to that song again.
