Pandora Rivals Spotify & Apple Music With New Family Plan

Pandora is stepping their game up.

BYAron A.
Bennett Raglin/Getty Images

Spotify is undoubtedly the biggest streaming service with over 75M paid subscribers as of early May. However, their ability to constantly figure out new ways to elevate the streaming platform is what keeps them ahead of the game. Apple Music is the closest rival to Spotify right now with over 40M subscribers as of April. However, it looks like the two companies are finding a new rival in Pandora as they've rolled out their new family plan.

Pandora has just launched their new family plan for $15 a month. This matches both Spotify and Apple Music plans that are geared towards multiple people. The new service allows up to six users to have their own account where they could create their own custom radio stations and playlists as well as downloading music and have no ads interrupt the listening experience. 

As reported by TheVerge, Pandora's new family plan seems to be another way for them to convert their free users to paid subscribers. As of now, they have 80M monthly free listeners. However, it might take them some time to catch up. They only launched their Premium service in March 2017 once they obtained the key assets from Rdio. As of January 2018, they only had six million paid subscribers. It'll be interesting to see what their next move is to bring the company to new heights. 


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About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.