Pandora has released overhauled mobile apps for iPhone and Android smartphone users and early next year it says it will serve a third operating system. Windows Phone users will be able to listen to commercial-free stations for one year when the app’s released in first quarter.
It’s a similar ad-free promotional move to what Clear Channel has made to users of iHeartRadio’s customized radio feature. It’s a risky move for the pureplay webcaster that’s still posting quarterly losses. While Clear Channel has other sources of revenue, most notably its 850 radio stations, Pandora relies on digital ad sales. To highlight what the service can do for advertisers, Pandora has partnered with McDonald’s, Nike, Sony Pictures and State Farm to be highlighted in the app’s new social features by offering such things as sponsor tips and product information. ComScore says Microsoft’s Windows-based phones hold 3.6% of the market.
Meanwhile, Pandora says the new iPhone and Android 4.0 versions are the biggest redesigns it has done since it first created the mobile apps. They offer new features and functions, including the ability to more easily interact with social networks. Pandora CEO Joe Kennedy says the company has surpassed 175 million registered users and more than 115 million have accessed Pandora on a smartphone, claiming the app is on more than one out of every three smartphones, reports Inside Radio.