Recently, Pandora has restricted users from only being able to use only 40 hours of free music a month while previously has been free for everybody to use as much as they want.
This new change in music streaming is upsetting to their constant listeners since they not only had no say in the decision.
“I think it’s ridiculous how they have limit us to 40 hours. The advertisements are annoying enough. It’s a free music website and by limiting it to the 40 hours, it’s like getting a taste of something you can’t have,” junior Nguyen Cao said.
The cool layout and personalized radios and playlists give Pandora listeners the music they want while providing them with an easy medium to navigate.
From rap to country, Pandora has music that can appeal to all types of people and music tastes. This move by the Pandora founders was smart, because the 40 hours gives enough time for the listener to get a feel for what Pandora consist of, so if they want to pay the money to subscribe to get unlimited hours, they can.
After the 40 hours is up, Pandora listeners will have to resort to other free music websites like iHeart Radio and Youtube if they want free music.
This limit not only makes other free music websites look better, but also makes people just not want to listen to Pandora or music.
“I find it stupid putting limitations on free music, because Pandora is a free music website. Even though I don’t really use Pandora, there shouldn’t be a limit.” senior Alex Williams said.
Pandora makes their money by having the ads on the side rails and ads in between songs here and then. They can even make money by having people subscribe to Pandora and not have the ads in between the songs that they play. People can subscribe for $36 a year, or pay every month for $3.99.
Other websites have a completely free stream of music, whether it be radio or just songs that you can search for on Youtube.
Limiting the time that people can use Pandora is counterbalanced by the ability to go to these websites and get more music for free. They aren’t forced to pay for Pandora, they have other options as well.
“I think they should get rid of the limit because it is just so ridiculous because after years of having it for free, it’s not fair for people who do subscribe and pay the money anyway” Cao said.
With copyright laws like Title 17, the Copy right act of 1796 and The Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004 Pandora can only play certain songs and making sure that they can play those cost a lot of money.
So limiting the listener to 40 hours before paying could let the listener have more of a song selection to make their perfect playlist.
But is the public ready to start paying more money for their music? The answer is no.
