Pandora could start to look a lot more like Spotify soon..
The Internet-radio service may offer two new paid tiers with on-demand music as soon as next month, according to the Wall Street Journal. Right now Pandora does not allow users to pick speciffic songs–instead, you tune in to stations that may or may not have exactly what you want to listen to. While the stations can be personalized based on user preference, it’s not the same as being able to load up the latest Justin Bieber hit on Spotify whenever you want.
In the past Pandora has not needed permission from the record labels to play music because it operates like a radio station rather than an on-demand service. However, Pandora is closing in on deals with the labels to offer the on-demand option both in the U.S. and overseas, the Wall Street Journal says.
“We’ve been working hard to bring an expanded listening experience to listeners and are on track to do so later this year,” a Pandora spokesperson told FORBES. The company would not confirm the next-month timeline. However, Pandora CEO Tim Westergren said it planned to debut an on-demand option in the second half of this year during the company’s Q2 earnings call last month.
Beefing up its content options could help Pandora grow its user base, which has been faltering in recent quarters. Pandora had 78.1 million monthly active listeners at the end of Q2 2016, a drop from the 79.4 million it for the same period the previous year. The company’s stock jumped more than 3% following the news on Friday.