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Apple Music to add lossless audio for no added cost. Definitely Pandora needs to bump up the audio quality now to complete with the other music streaming services.
The major downside to almost every streaming solution is degradation of sound quality in favor of stable streaming transmission efficiency and massive storage capacity. That’s how streaming became practical. Streaming capabilities have progressed by orders of magnitude since Napster. The ability to transmit lossless files should not be the exception anymore. It should not be a paid premium “feature” either but since I’m paying I feel I deserve better sound quality than I’m getting now. I also deserve the ability to tailor the sound with a real 7 to 11 band EQ. We are no longer talking major technical or hardware feats. The low-mid-high tone “adjustments” in my car are laughable. The placement of my Bluetooth speaker in my bathroom is too boomy. Yes, send a perfect representation of the sound to me and then let me customize it. This is an extension of why I use Pandora and not other services. Your suggestion algorithms are fantastic - and they are a great platform that I use for customization when I create my own “lunk headed rock”, “My R&B” stations and others. I don’t like “curation”. I don’t use any pre-set Pandora stations. I don’t want EQ pre sets I want a fully functional 7 or 11 band EQ and lossless files.
I wish that Pandora would just understand that lossless audio should be the baseline product, especially for the paid service. Their suggestion engine is absolutely the best but we all deserve a better listening experience. Pete D.
I am sure this has been cover at length but I have been waiting for Pandora to announce an upgrade to lossless audio. I have tried and still have multiple streaming services and i would dump them all if Pandora were to make that switch. I love the interface, the music selection algorithm and the overall ease of use but I find myself listening more to Apple Music because it just sounds better though my car and home system. I will hold onto my Pandora Plus until they switch but will immediately upgrade if they make the switch.
It's 2022... I'm not sure why this hasn't been on the executive's paybook... Losses will continue to accelerate until they decide to do something about this. To truly be competitive in this space you have to be innovative. Music Genome is great, but will only get you so far - and as it looks right now customers are voting with their wallets.
"Pandora’s monthly active users (MAUs) ended 2020 at 58.9 million, down from 63.5 million at the end of 2019."
Yes, I also have to say that I tried lossless on Amazon and was blown away by the difference. I will come back immediately if Pandora will greatly increase the quality because the music discovery is by far the best on Pandora, but the quality is the lowest of the majors and it is noticeable.
