Pandora gets a facelift, goes unlimited for free streaming music

[Jazzy]

Music lovers may be awash in a sea of tune-streaming services at the moment, but Pandora persists as a perennial favorite, especially when it comes to discovering new music. The site, which lets you curate your own custom radio stations, has long been one of the most prominent web music services around — but it was admittedly in need of a facelift.



Not only did Pandora just launch as cosmetic redesign of its web music portal, but it also lifted the restrictions on how many hours of streaming sonic goodness you can devour each month. Previously, listeners could only enjoy 40 hours of free, ad-supported music each cycle, so if you like to maintain a constant flow of background music, you probably found yourself in the lurch from time to time.



Beyond the freedom of an all-you-can-stream model, Pandora's website is now built on HTML5 (which has powered some pretty neat browser-based sonic experiments) rather than Flash. While that sounds a bit on the technical side, you'll notice the change in speed immediately. Not only does the site load faster, but it offers a more fluid, dynamic design that's far more intuitive than its comparatively clunky predecessor. That speed will come in handy for Pandora's new emphasis on social sharing: you can now share a song or a station to Facebook or Twitter, or just track your favorite tracks within Pandora's new social music feed on your profile.



Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technol...unlimited-free-streaming-music-012122212.html



Questions: Do any of you use Pandora? What do you think of the new facelift?

 

[Evil Eye]

Haven't heard of it.

*visits site.*

Don't seem able to use it either...

 

[Loucifer]

I used to use it a couple of years ago, but since their licencing restrictions have changed I have been unable to access the site. I just get this:

Dear Pandora Visitor,



We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for listeners located outside of the U.S. We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative.



We believe that you are in United Kingdom (your IP address appears to be XXXXXXXXXX). If you believe we have made a mistake, we apologize and ask that you please contact us at [email protected]



If you are a paid subscriber, please contact us at [email protected] and we will issue a pro-rated refund to the credit card you used to sign up. If you have been using Pandora, we will keep a record of your existing stations and bookmarked artists and songs, so that when we are able to launch in your country, they will be waiting for you.



We will be notifying listeners as licensing agreements are established in individual countries. If you would like to be notified by email when Pandora is available in your country, please enter your email address below. The pace of global licensing is hard to predict, but we have the ultimate goal of being able to offer our service everywhere.



We share your disappointment and greatly appreciate your understanding.

It's a shame because I did used to enjoy using the site. I found out about some fantastic bands because of it!

 

[Nick]

That's crazy. Wouldn't have guessed that they would disable it for other countries. I would check out Spotify & Slacker Radio if you like free music to listen to

 

[Loucifer]

I've used Spotify on and off for a while... but my main sources for discovering music now are band's websites, Last.fm, YouTube and Reverbnation