Pandora Brings Back Annual Billing

Back in March, Pandora decided to alter their pricing scheme a bit, boosting the price on their monthly plans by about $1/month. They also discarded their annual subscription, though it wasn't clear why. The annual billing was just a one-time fee, and didn't really give subscribers and sort of discount. In the face of public outcry, Pandora has brought the annual subscription option back. It's still as much as you'd pay with monthly fees, but saves you from seeing it as a recurring charge.

Via Twitter, Pandora says the "high demand" brought annual subscriptions back.

If you're an existing subscriber, the $3.99/month fee can be translated into a $48/year charge (plus applicable tax). New subscribers will pony up $4.99/month or $55/year.

Again, no real savings for going annual — just a billing convenience for some.

Pandora has opted to not bring back the $36/year plan for users on grandfathered rates, unfortunately. It's also curious that they'd not offer a slight discount for roping subscribers in for the full year.

Still, if you like Pandora and want a single bill, this is the way to go. Pandora is still a good bit cheaper than many competing subscription services, but limits the amount of times you can skip a song, and premium audio playback is web-only.

Source: Pandora