Pandora subscribers can now share their music on Snapchat. The feature, which goes live on Aug. 21, will be able to share their sonic library simply by opening Pandora and then hitting "Share" from the "Now Playing" screen.
Users will then have to select "Snapchat" from the list of options, and voilà! The post will be redirected to the Snapchat app itself, complete with a corresponding card for the album, song, or playlist that can either be added into a story or shared directly with a friend.
Recipients who are non-Premium users of Pandora will be given access to 30 minutes of free music if they watch a 30-second ad.
Pandora And Snapchat Integration
"Music is meant to be enjoyed with others and now with Pandora Premium, listeners get the benefit of personalized, on-demand listening — along with the ability to share their favorites through Snapchat," Pandora wrote in a blog post.
The feature goes live automatically. Users don't have to connect Pandora and Snapchat. All kinds of Pandora users will be able to try it out, including Premium, Plus and ad-supported accounts. It'll work on both Android and iOS.
What Pandora Is Really Doing
By latching onto a popular platform, Pandora is clearly attempting to make its service more popular than rivals Spotify and Apple Music, but such an ambition will require more than just giving people the option to share music on social media. Allowing non-Pandora users to get 30 minutes of access to free music is as clear an indication as any that it wants to lure in new users. Again, that's another tall order, but its solution is pretty sensible.
The question is whether the feature will find much adoption, or at least enough adoption Pandora needs to increase its user base. In any case, it's a nice first attempt, but Pandora has to do more. Engadget suggests making something akin to Instagram Stickers, a feature that lets users tack on clips of their favorite music onto stories. That's a far better implementation because users don't even have to leave Instagram to use it.
Pandora says more updates are still scheduled to arrive, including animated music cards that can be sent to Snapchat friends when sharing personalized music recommendations. The company didn't give a hint on when this could come but did note they're "coming soon."
Would you share your Pandora playlists on Snapchat? Do you think this is a great way to increase Pandora's user base? As always, if you have anything to share, feel free to sound them in the comments section below!
