You can get Pandora Premium on-demand music free: Here's how

Earlier in the year, Pandora launched a new on-demand service called Pandora Premium. Meant to keep Pandora competitive in this age of paid music streaming subscriptions that let you listen to what you want on-demand, Pandora Premium's launch was certainly long overdue. While Pandora still offers free streaming for those who don't want to pay, it's looking to extend those Premium perks to everyone today.

Today, Pandora unveiled a new initiative that allows free users to unlock "complimentary" sessions of Pandora Premium. If you're a free user, you'll be presented with an offer to watch a 15-second ad when you search for a song, artist, or album, or when you click on a link Pandora has shared. Watch the ad, and you'll be able to stream that music on-demand, without ads interrupting your listening.

This trial of Pandora Premium, if you'd like to call it that, is available to free and Plus users. Pandora doesn't say how long your Premium session will last after each ad, but we probably shouldn't expect it to be substantially long. After all, this is definitely a play to tempt ad-supported and Plus members into shelling out for a Premium subscription, which costs $9.99 per month.

It's a good idea, honestly, and it's one that we may see other music services attempt if it translates to more Premium sign-ups for Pandora. Showing non-Premium members what they're missing out on should convince at least some of them to take the plunge, and for the ones who stick to their guns, Pandora still gets some ad revenue on the side. It sounds like a pretty good deal, all things considered, in that it's optional for people who don't want anything to do with ads to begin with.

Pandora says that this is rolling out today to listeners on both iOS and Android. We'll see if this works out for Pandora eventually, but for now, head down to the comments section and let us know what you think of this new initiative.