I first wrote about Pandora about a year and a half ago, and since that time the service has absolutely exploded. If you like music and use the internet then you’ve probably heard of and even used Pandora at one time or another. I won’t go in to what Pandora does as I’ve already covered that, instead I want to focus on what Pandora is doing right, why it’s so popular and and where it is going.
Pandora’s explosive growth can probably be traced back to one change in the technology timeline, and that is the release of the iPhone SDK. When Apple decided to open the now unstoppable iPhone application market to individual developers two years ago they paved the way for services like Pandora to thrive. Since Pandora first launch on the iPhone in July 2007 their traffic has nearly quadrupled to 5.5 million unique visitors a month (sources: Alexa, Quantcast, Compete).
Since the iPhone application release in July 2008 Pandora has also been released on Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Palm Pre. Every one of these devices obviously helps with Pandora’s success. I have, use and love my Pandora application and widget on my Sprint HTC Hero. If I’m in the mood for music and I’m not at home I can hit play on the Pandora widget and be jamming away in no-time.
The New York Times went into detail yesterday about Pandora’s history and future in an article yesterday, and it seems that the mobile space and physical device integration is their future. After over ten years of struggling it seems that Pandora is officially a success story, and hopefully the entertainment industry will support Pandora and other services like them instead of fighting them.
The future is bright for Pandora as they are continue to see device integration including in new TVs, stereos and even upcoming Ford vehicle models using the Microsoft Sync systems. Pandora is popular because it is a well designed, streamlined, high-quality service that is easy to use and not plagued unneeded advertising. It also helps that the Pandora team listens and responds to their user requests and concerns.
In summation, Pandora is to music what Hulu is to television… but let’s hope that the powers that be don’t get too greedy and ruin the fun we’re all having with it.
Leave Your Response
You must be logged in to post a comment.