Though iOS 7 is the big story of the day, iTunes Radio is out now in the latest iTunes update. It’s a Pandora-like feature that allows users to create custom radio stations based on their personal musical libraries. It’s supported by ads at the moment, so users will have to part with $25 to upgrade to iTunes Match, which keeps the advertisements out of the headphones. It may be the sleeper hit of the day; this service is important to keep an eye on.
Tag: Radio
Apple Announces iTunes Radio
Apple announced the Fall launch of iTunes Radio, a Pandora-like streaming service geared towards music discovery and driving increased iTunes sales. Available on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, PC, and Apple TV the service will be free and ad supported, or completely ad-free with an iTunes Match account. While it’s hard to call the offering a game changer, there are differentiating features like voice command integration with SIRI to make song requests. Apple’s biggest advantage though should be its ability to get exclusive tracks or album previews from big artists before you can hear them anywhere else.
Pandora Announces 200 Million Users
Pandora announced that on Tuesday it passed 200 million registered users for its online radio service. Although it took the company six years to sign its first 100 million users, from July 2005 to July 20011, it took a little less than two years thereafter to double that figure. In addition, 140 million out of the 200 million also access their accounts from mobile devices. Pandora firmly believes that it’s on the right side of radio innovation, for both artists and music fans; however only 70 million of the 200 million registered users use the service on a monthly basis. At the same time, this ratio is significantly more promising than that of Spotify, which boasts 24 million active users, only 6 million of which pay for the service.
