Tag Archives: Pandora One

Microsoft Launches Ad-Free Pandora Radio for Windows Phone 8

By Tim Beyers, The Motley Fool

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Free access to ad-free Pandora with no monthly streaming limit has arrived for Windows Phone 8.

According to information posted this week at Microsoft‘s Windows Phone app store, purchasers of its newest handsets may access ad-free radio through Pandora for the remainder of 2013. The company announced in October that Pandora would be coming to Windows Phone in early 2013 with one year of ad-free music. So the latest announcement offers the free option for less time than announced in October.

Android and iOS users typically pay $3.99 per month, or $36 per year, for Pandora One, the company’s ad-free premium subscription service. Privately held Spotify charges a minimum of $4.99 per month for similar access.

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The article Microsoft Launches Ad-Free Pandora Radio for Windows Phone 8 originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Tim Beyers is a member of the 
Motley Fool Rule Breakers
stock-picking team and the Motley Fool Supernova Odyssey I mission. He didn’t own shares in any of the companies mentioned at the time of publication. Check out Tim’s web home and portfolio holdings or connect with him on Google+Tumblr, or Twitter, where he goes by @milehighfool. You can also get his insights delivered directly to your RSS reader.Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

This Week in Sirius XM Radio

By Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Things never get dull for the country’s lone satellite-radio provider. Shares of Sirius XM Radio moved higher this week, closing off by 3% to hit $3.14. The general market also moved higher, but Sirius XM did outpace the major indices on the way up.

There was more going on beyond the share-price gyrations. The week began with General Motors‘ announcement of a 4G initiative that could have ramifications for Sirius XM. On the other end of the spectrum, streaming-music leader Pandora moved to cap-heavy usage of its service on mobile devices. Short interest data is out for mid-February, and the naysayers are out in full force again, with Sirius XM notching another new high in bearish bets. We also saw automakers come through with robust sales for February, and that bodes well for Sirius XM’s chances at strong gross subscriber additions.

Let’s take a closer look.

GM hooks up drivers
GM has been slow to match Ford when it comes to dashboard technology. As Ford sets the bar with Sync only to raise it with MyFord Touch, GM‘s still coasting on its premium suite of telematics through OnStar.

Well, that will change late next year, when the 2015 model year cars start hitting showrooms. Most of GM‘s cars across its Chevy, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac lines will have the option of 4G LTE connectivity. Naturally, these mobile hotspots will be premium features with monthly data plans, but it’s a given that the fast Internet connections will allow GM to serve up Pandora, Sirius XM’s streaming service, and other popular digital music apps through a car’s audio system.

The in-car enhancement will be more of a threat than an opportunity for GM drivers. Will they still want to pay $14.49 a month when they’re already paying for a mobile hotspot with access to limitless online entertainment options?

Naturally, this could also be an opportunity for Sirius XM if it’s able to beef up its online offering.

Pandora boxes outside of the think
The days of free usage may be over for Pandora’s most active users. The music-discovery pioneer will start capping free ad-supported usage of its service at 40 hours a month through smartphones and tablets. After that, users will need to pay $0.99 to continue listening for the balance of the month.

Pandora argues that just 4% of its users are streaming enough through mobile devices to trigger the tollbooth, but that’s still nearly 3 million of Pandora’s 65.6 million active users. Will everyone else begin scaling back on usage just to make sure they don’t bump up against the cap?

On the other hand, if someone’s putting up with ads for more than 40 hours a month, why don’t they just pay $36 a year to zap all those ads with a Pandora One membership?

This move is a positive for Sirius XM. Pandora’s threat to Sirius XM has come from the fear that a growing number of …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Review: Elpis lets you jam to Pandora with zero fuss and maximum fun

Pandora: An endless font of good music. More recent arrivals on the music streaming scene may look cooler (Spotify, I’m looking at you), but Pandora’s music-matching engine is unsurpassed, at least for me. I just give it an artist name or a track title, and it comes back with hours of fun music I can tweak to my heart’s content. If only its Web interface were as good as its engine–but alas, random Flash browser crashes often mar the fun. This is where Elpis comes in. This free, high-quality desktop Pandora client makes the experience just about perfect.

Elpis’s flat and dark interface lets you do anything Pandora’s Web-based client lets you do.

I’ve been using Elpis for over a year now. When it first came out, one of its best features was its ability to circumvent Pandora’s geographic restrictions. This was later removed (Pandora patched the loophole that made it possible), but Elpis remained an excellent client. In a nutshell: Endless streaming (it never nags to see if you’re still listening), slick hotkey support, and it can even automatically pause the music when you lock your workstation.

Elpis doesn’t play or show any ads, either, which means you’re expected to be honest and pay Pandora for the ad-free service you’re essentially getting with Elpis. In fact, Elpis creator Adam Haile offers his application for free, but asked me to urge readers to purchase a Pandora One subscription ($36 per year) if they enjoy Elpis.

Elpis lets you easily pick one of your existing stations or create a new one.

The interface itself isn’t standard Windows, and may be a bit of an acquired taste: It’s black, flat, and custom. New songs slide into view as they start playing, and the various screens slide in and out of view. It almost feels like a Modern (Metro) application, which is interesting because that’s the way it looked like since long before Windows 8 came out. (Elpis is not officially supported on Windows 8, but I’ve used it on Windows 8 without any problems.) Even as a paying Pandora client, you might prefer Elpis because it feels more minimalistic than the official Pandora desktop client.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld