If the new service follows in Deezer or TIDAL’s footsteps, one possible discrepancy between the two paid tiers is that one might offer moderate audio fidelity, say streaming at 320Kbps, while the high-end option might ratchet it up to a 1,411Kbps bitrate.
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While competing with the likes of Spotify, Apple and other $10-a-month service providers may be hard, some music-industry executives believe that Pandora’s planned $5-a-month tier presents a bigger opportunity for the business, potentially unlocking new revenue from consumers who want a bit more control over their listening experience but wouldn’t pay $10 a month.
Pandora and major record companies are near to signing an agreement, which would allow the former to initiate its new subscription in the USA and other foreign markets. An estimated 4 million users now pay to subscribe to Pandora One. In addition, it wants to build out its existing $5 a month ad-free tier with new capabilities, such as the ability to skip songs and listen to music offline, WSJ.com reported. Currently, Pandora only operates in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. For Pandora and its increasingly wary investors, the expansion should drive user growth, which has slowed in recent months. “Music Reports is in a unique position to reach every active publisher in the market, ensuring Pandora can offer them all the opportunity to participate in these new services, on the same terms”.
Jay Z’s Tidal, for example, launched previous year with the promotional backing of almost 20 superstar artists.
Still, there is some crossover: Roughly half of the paying subscribers to Apple Music and Spotify in the USA also listen to Pandora, according to Mr. Crupnick’s research. According to International Federation of Phonographic Industry, out of $15 billion revenue, $2 billion is accounted to subscription streaming.
The company’s move, which will mark the first time it will allow its users to choose individual songs, has been widely discussed since Pandora purchased pieces of a bankrupted Rdio last November.
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The WSJ also writes that Pandora is interested in launching in new markets.
