The changes affect both Pandora’s subscription-based and ad-supported platforms.

“The company announced it’s rebranding the classic Pandora One subscription model as Pandora Plus, an improved $4.99 option that will allow listeners to have as many as four music channels available offline, when users might want to listen without having internet access,” reports AdWeek’s Marty Swant.

This announcement follows news from Pandora that the music streaming service has inked direct licensing deals with several major music labels, including Merlin Network, Sony Music, and Universal Music Group.

“You’ll be able to go on a run, or a cross-country commute on a plane or a train commute in a tunnel and never lose Pandora,” said Lizzie Widhelm, Pandora’s SVP of ad product strategy.

It’s a pretty cool set-up.

“The “predictive offline mode” notices when internet connection is cut and automatically caches three of the stations a user listens to the most,” explained Swant. “The offline mode will also cache a user’s Thumbprint station, which is based on songs they’ve given a thumbs up.”

As for the free, ad-supported version of Pandora, the company will now allow brands to sponsor playbacks and additional skips: in exchange for watching a 15-second ad, users will be able to listen to a song again or skip more of those they don’t like.

The ultimate benefit to advertisers? More happy customers of the platform — and ultimately more of the kind of flexibility that takes the sting out of advertising breaks.

“The updates to allow for offline could also be a big boost for gaining ground in the mobile space,” notes Swant. “More than 85 percent of users’ total listening hours come from mobile devices.”

Pandora now boasts 78 million total active monthly listeners in the U.S. About 3.9 million are paying subscribers.

The post Pandora Changes Its Tune: Music Platform Makes Some Major Changes appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The offering will be rolled out to the company’s 80 million monthly active users.

“It gives listeners more control over the ads they see and delivers stronger results for brands,” Pandora tells us. “The ads launch in beta this summer with Express and the Lexus Dealer Association, and will be available to all advertisers later this year.”

According to Mobile Advertising Watch, which previewed the ads, the new ads in question seek to harness the natural behavior of mobile users, as well as provide a creative opening for advertisers.

“The ad experience lives within the square space that houses album art, fitting seamlessly into the core visual element of Pandora, and includes the ability for listeners to swipe vs. tap to dismiss,” the company tells us. “It also allows advertisers to measure key signs of listener engagement including time spent and viewability, and supports IAB standard ads as well as programmatic needs.”

“At Pandora, we believe what is good for the listener is good for the advertiser,” said John Trimble, the chief revenue officer at Pandora. “We saw an industry-wide problem with visual mobile ads and focused on what ‘the impression’ initially set out to achieve: viewability, time spent, attention, and engagement. We’re changing the game by helping advertisers think less about traditional impressions and more about the quality of each interaction.”

To learn more about Pandora’s innovative efforts in mobile advertising, click here.

The post Pandora Pushes Forward with Innovative Native Mobile Ad Effort appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

But Google isn’t standing by and letting Apple enter the streaming music market without as much formidable competition as possible.

This week, Google took a step that could be an attractive alternative to some music fans considering a subscription to Apple Music.

“Available in the U.S.,” the Internet search giant explains, “Google Play Music provides free, ad-supported radio for what you’re doing, how you’re feeling, or what you want to hear. Instantly start radio stations based on songs, artists, or albums, or browse by genre, mood, activity, decade, and more.”

All told, it’s an enticing pitch.

“Bring your own music collection with you by uploading 50,000 of your own songs; then listen to them across Android, iOS, and the web, for free,” Google says.

Want to know more? Check out Google Play Music here.

The post Google Playing a Sweet Tune As Major Competition Looms Large appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Confirmed this week, Pandora says its new programmatic solution supplements its desktop offering to deliver viewable inventory, qualified data and a robust, engaged audience at scale across devices.

“The power of Pandora’s data fuels our digital advertising leadership and helps brands reach the right listener, with the right message at the right time,” said John Trimble, chief revenue officer at Pandora.

“The launch of our desktop programmatic solution was an important step, and this latest offering on smartphones and tablets further positions our company for growth by meeting the needs of our current buying partners and unlocking new market opportunities,” Trimble added.

Pandora says advertisers interested in these new opportunities can find out more on their advertising page here.

The post Music Streaming Giant Goes Programmatic appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Spotify just completed another round of funding that will only

The music-streaming company closed a $526 million round of funding valuing it at $8.53 billion, said a person familiar with the matter. The financing, which The Wall Street Journal first reported on in April, closed on Tuesday.

According to Spotify, its paying subscriber base has ballooned past 20 million (there are 75 million active monthly users).

But will the growth slow now that Apple is entering the music game?

As MMW reported Monday, Apple Music will be available starting on June 30 in over 100 countries.

Interested potential subscribers will be offered a 3-month free membership, after which there’s a $9.99/month subscription fee. (A family plan offering access to the service for up to six family members will cost $14.99/month).

“We love music, and the new Apple Music service puts an incredible experience at every fan’s fingertips,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “All the ways people love enjoying music come together in one app — a revolutionary streaming service, live worldwide radio and an exciting way for fans to connect with artists.”

The post Spotify Backers Not Sweating Apple Music appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Apple Music is billed by Apple as a single, intuitive app that combines the best ways to enjoy music all in one place.

In short, Apple Music is a global live radio station from Apple broadcasting 24 hours a day and a “great new way for music fans to connect with their favorite artists.”

Apple Music combines the largest and most diverse collection of music on the planet with the expertise of world-class music experts who have programmed playlists for your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC, Apple TV and Android phones.

Based on Monday’s announcement, Apple Music will be available starting on June 30 in over 100 countries.

Interested potential subscribers will be offered a 3-month free membership, after which there’s a $9.99/month subscription fee. (A family plan offering access to the service for up to six family members will cost $14.99/month).

“We love music, and the new Apple Music service puts an incredible experience at every fan’s fingertips,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “All the ways people love enjoying music come together in one app — a revolutionary streaming service, live worldwide radio and an exciting way for fans to connect with artists.”

The post Music at the Core of Apple’s WWDC 2015 Keynote appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

We’re told that the WWDC 2015 keynote will bring with it an announcement from Apple that it will challenge the likes of Spotify and Pandora head-on in the streaming music market.

The service will reportedly cost $10 per month.

“Unlike Spotify, Apple won’t let listeners stream its entire music catalog on demand free of charge,” the WSJ reports. “But it plans to augment its free, ad-supported Internet radio service with channels programmed and hosted by human DJs.”

Apple can aggressively push its hundreds of millions of iTunes customers—most with credit cards already registered with the company—to embrace a subscription model on the same devices where they listen to downloaded songs and albums.

WWDC 2015 kicks off June 8th.

The post Apple’s Next Venture Won’t Be Music to the Ears of Spotify, Pandora appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

According to the information presented, 2014 was not a banner year for digital music.

“Sales of downloaded albums and songs plummeted in the U.S. in 2014,” the WSJ reported following the publication of data from Nielsen SoundScan.
What’s behind the dip? Overall, there are many contributing factors, not the least of which include strong vinyl-record sales and red-hot streaming services.

“Paid downloads of albums and songs declined 9% and 12% respectively,” the report reads. “American consumers bought 257 million albums in 2014, 106.5 million of them downloads.”

Although the sales dip is notable, most headlines today are reflecting a somewhat isolated tidbit from the report, which is data pointing to the biggest album of the year.

“The biggest album of the year in the U.S. was Taylor Swift ’s ‘1989,’” the report concludes, “which sold more than 3.66 million copies.”

The post Digital Music Downloads Singing the Blues appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Hailed as “YouTube Music Key,” the service is a direct challenger to Apple’s Beats music platform, as it delivers streaming music directly from YouTube.

Google confirmed that YouTube Music Key, now in beta, will cost $7.99 per month during the promotional period before settling at $9.99 a month.

“You’ve asked us for ways to listen to music without ads, to keep playing music videos even if you lock the screen or start using another app, and to play music even if you’re not connected to the Internet,” reads today’s formal announcement. “That’s why today we’re introducing YouTube Music Key beta, a monthly subscription service… that will give you all that—ads-free music, background play and offline viewing.”

For Apple, this new service represents what could be its biggest challenger among new streaming music services to enter the market in recent years.

To learn more about Google’s new streaming music platform, check out the video below.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMQxeb5ERps[/youtube]

The post Google Singing a New Tune in Battle with Apple appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

CNBC reports that Apple wants to move forward with a whopping $3.2 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics, an iconic headphone maker and music streaming operator.

The company, which was founded by music producer Jimmy Iovine and recording superstar Dr Dre, has reportedly been on Apple’s radar for an extended period of time. But only in recent weeks have acquisition talks intensified.

“The deal could be announced as early as next week, people familiar with the negotiations said, but they cautioned that some details had yet to be agreed and talks could still fall apart,” CNBC reports.

If the deal closes, the acquisition would give to Apple a streaming music service, Beats’ audio equipment business, and the entire Beats management team.

It should be noted, however, that even though $3.2 billion is a substantial sum for an acquisition, Apple’s cash pile stood at well over $130 billion by the close of the March 2014 quarter.

The post And the 'Beat' Goes on for Apple's Potential Record Breaking Acquisition appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.