PANDORA TO OPEN PREMIUM BOX FOR
24 HOURS

Pandora will celebrate its 10th anniversary next Wednesday (9/9) by taking down the Pandora One paywall for 24 hours, enabling anyone who’s interested to sample the add-free premium ($4.99/mo.) tier, the company announced.

Listener Love Day, as the 24-hour freebie has been dubbed, is “a celebration of a decade of connecting music fans to the artists that matter to them,” according to company founder/head Tim Westergren. “This is a thank you to each and every listener who has tuned in to Pandora over the past 10 years… From the first song Pandora played in 2005 to the 50 billionth thumb we celebrated earlier this year, our mission has remained the same—to provide each of our listeners with the best music experience possible, whether an old favorite or introducing them to a new artist and style of music. Listener Love Day is a celebration of not only our listeners, but a day dedicated to great music.”

Westergren and his compadres clearly have an ulterior motive for the move—less than 5% of Pandora’s 80m users, or 3.9m, have opted for the premium offering, according to the company’s own stats. Converting free listeners to paid subscribers would not only serve to lessen the flow of red ink, but also give the impression that Pandora is playing ball with the major rights holders as they pressure the services to curb unlimited free streaming.