The Pandora online music recommendation service may feel threatened by the new Internet radio royalty rates, but that hasn’t stopped the company from expanding into new channels.
For the first time, Pandora will be available on mobile phones via wireless operator Sprint. Users can access their existing Pandora stations from certain Sprint phones, as well as create new ones from their mobile device just as they could from a PC. Additionally, users can bookmark newly discovered songs to purchase them later via the Sprint Music Store.
Sprint is offering Pandora free for a 30-day trial period, after which it will cost $3 a month.
Additionally, the wireless multi-room music system Sonos is offering the Pandora service to both existing and new customers. Anyone owning or buying a Sonos system can download the Pandora software for free and receive a free 30-day trial subscription to the service, after which it will cost $36 to a year.
Meanwhile, Sonos has begun a new consumer push with a new bundle offering that combines several Sonos products at a lower price. For $1,000, customer can buy one Sonos ZonePlayer 8, a Sonos ZonePlayer 100 and the Sonos Controller 100. Combined, the products will allow customers to wirelessly stream music to two rooms and control all that music from anywhere.
For more on Sonos’ future plans, read this Business 2.0 profile of CEO John MacFarlane.
