Pandora Premium to get December debut, followed by Q1 2017 launch

pandora-logo-p-2016-use-this-canvasPandora has pegged Dec. 6 as the date to unveil its upcoming interactive streaming service. Pandora Premium will be introduced to the public at an event that day in New York City. However it will not officially launch until the first quarter of 2017.

“Radio will be at its core, the notion of listening, continuous listening will be at the center of this product,” CEO Tim Westergren said. “We’re going to reinvent the interactive experience just the same way we invented online personalized radio.”

This upcoming streaming service will build on the company’s previously announced Pandora Plus. The mid-priced offering costs $4.99 a month and offers ad-free listening, song replays, and more song skips. The Premium version will add features such as building playlists or searching and playing a specific track. The company’s leaders are promising other unique ideas in Pandora Premium that will be shared in December.

The dates were given during Pandora’s latest investor call. Its Q3 2016 revenue rose 13% to $352 million, while active listeners held steady at 77.9 million.

Anna Washenko