iRadio vs. Pandora

by EMILY BEZERRA
Social Media Coordinator

Apple has made a deal with Warner Music Group and announced the release of a new mobile music app called iRadio at the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 9.

There are various reasons as to why Apple is coming out with such an app. For starters, it is the best new thing they can come up with right now. IOS7 has experienced delays being developed, so this is another thing they can announce at the WWDC to impress the attendees.

iRadio is a way to keep buyers interested in the iPhone. With new smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 coming out, Apple is experiencing some competition. Studies show that 1/3 of smartphone owners listen to music on their phone, so an impressive new music app could keep people aboard the Apple bandwagon.

One reason why iRadio is a step above Pandora radio is because it can operate globally. Apple chose to negotiate direct licenses, which allow the music to be streamed globally, whereas Pandora only operates in three countries – the US, Australia, and New Zealand.

Apple is also paying a lot more to make iRadio work. Apple will pay a per-stream royalty of .16 cents, which is 33 percent more than the .12 cents Pandora pays per-stream.

iRadio is a free app supported by advertisements. Apple has created iAd, its own advertising platform, to support its developers with in-app advertising.

Pandora shares have been tumbling, decreasing almost 10 percent in the past few days. Basically, Apple has a foot forward in this whole situation because it is paying double Pandora’s ad-cut to publishers.

iRadio will officially come out in November, and it is assumed that after a while, Pandora will be put out of business (or at least really unsuccessful).

“I listen to Pandora all the time, almost every day. It’s great how you can simply plug in your favorite artist and the app can guess all these other songs you will like. If Pandora goes out of business, iRadio better be just as good,” says sophomore Melanie Conlon.

The reason why Pandora has been so successful in finding songs that interest listeners is because of the data it collects. Half a million people purchase all their music from iTunes, creating data as to which songs people like that are interested in a certain type of music or artist.

It is not as if iRadio is the first app that has posed a threat to Pandora. The I Heart Radio and Spotify apps have also put Pandora in a bad position, but it has always come out on top with more users. iRadio is the first real threat to Pandora.

“I’ve never even heard of the I Heart Radio app, and Spotify is terrible! I used it once and it didn’t play any songs I liked,” says sophomore Tina Volkmann.