Pandora expands to mobile phones

Online music broadcaster Pandora has struck deals with two hardware manufacturers to bring the service to consumer appliances and mobile phones. 

The company will work with appliance manufacturer Sonos and mobile phone company Sprint in the US to put the Pandora service on the companies' devices. 

Pandora allows consumers to build radio stations tailored to individual tastes. The service is based on the Music Genome Project, which analyses the qualities of different songs and bands based on attributes and influences. 

Pandora rates the ability to let consumers discover new music as one of its chief benefits.

"This new system allows us to unleash Pandora from the desktop and deliver it to any device, in any music format, over any wired or wireless network with capacity for tens of millions of users," said Tom Conrad, chief technology officer at Pandora.

Sonos will preload the Pandora service onto its digital music stereo system which features an internet connection. Existing users will be able to access the service through a firmware upgrade.

Sprint will make the Pandora service available on five of its mobile phone offerings, expanding to 10 models by late June. Sprint will require customers to join its Power Vision service plan in order to access the Pandora software.

Pandora offers an advertising-supported service on its website. Sonos and Sprint users will have to sign up for the premium service at a $3 monthly rate. Sprint will also allow users to permanently download songs at $0.99 each.

The new services are currently available only in the US. Pandora did not comment on plans for international expansion. The web-based service is available in the US, UK and Canada.