Popular music-streaming service Pandora just got a newly refreshed website, with a radical design change aimed to let its users of the platform's web interface interact with tracks and playlists in new ways.
Pandora Web Service Overhaul
Pandora is touting the refresh as a complete overhaul, which should probably mean it was built from the ground up. This should be immediately noticeable to users, as they are greeted with an interface that is set in the iconic blue shade identified with Pandora's logo as well as the color scheme for its mobile app on Android and iOS platforms.
New Pandora Features
The new design also introduces changes that expand the previous capabilities to play music, create playlists and skip through tracks. It is also now offering more meaty information about artists.
A number of these information can be found in the new immersive Now Playing view menu bar found fixed at the bottom of the interface. Users can control their tracks here. In addition, it also offers more information such as a singer's bio and even upcoming tours. Pandora is also including lyrics for those who want to sing along.
One other notable feature in the new web interface is the capability to easily browse through the history of tracks that the user has listened to. It is now easier to go back to a track that has been played earlier, and this could be useful to those who have been momentarily indisposed to replay a song due to some tasks.
Pandora's music service model also got a little tweak. Previously, you can use the music service for free, but you only have limited skips. This is seen in other platforms such as Spotify. Now, free users can skip an unlimited number of songs with only one caveat: they must watch an advertisement to earn skips and replays.
How About Pandora Plus?
Users of Pandora Plus, which was recently renamed as Pandora One, were not entirely left out in the cold. Pandora promised to introduce exclusive features, and these are expected to be revealed as throughout the day-long rollout. So far, they have access to unlimited skips without ads as well as unlimited replays.
A key takeaway in the Pandora web overhaul involves the shift toward a more streamlined experience. It is demonstrated in the usability of the navigation elements as well as the ease in finding information and organizing tracks and radio stations. Pandora is touting that they are all geared toward empowering users to control their listening experience.
Observers view the website update as part of a rebranding effort to keep Pandora competitive in an increasingly crowded music streaming market. It is also paving the way for an upcoming Pandora on-demand music streaming service that will come our way in the latter part of 2016.
