Pandora Lifting Listening Cap Ahead of iTunes Radio Launch

From DailyTech: Pandora said that it will lift its monthly cap on free mobile listening (again), which is coincidentally being announced ahead of Apple's iTunes Radio launch.

An earnings call with Pandora yesterday revealed that the 40-hour monthly cap would be lifted on September 1 for two reasons: other tools such as skip limits are being used to cut usage and costs instead, and more money coming in through advertising is helping Pandora afford those extra hours beyond 40.

Pandora CFO Mike Herring said that usage fell 10 percent when the cap was implemented, but that he doesn't expect the number of subscribers or hours of listening time to dramatically increase with the lift.

This isn't the first time Pandora has used a monthly cap on its service, then lifted it. It did this back in 2011 as well.

Pandora didn't cite Apple's iTunes Radio as a reason for the cap lift, but since the new radio service is about to launch with no caps at all, it's likely in the back of Pandora's mind from a competition standpoint.

ITunes Radio is an Internet radio service by Apple that was announced at the Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) in June of this year. It's expected to be released alongside iOS 7 this fall, and will be available for iOS devices, Apple TV and the iTunes app on both Mac and Windows computers.

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