Updated on December 10, 2021
Looks like fans of Rdio won’t be pleased by Monday’s news: Pandora plans to buy the streaming music service. Specifically, it seems they’re buying Rdio’s technology and other assets, while Rdio itself files for bankruptcy. TechCrunch has more details.
TechCrunch notes that Pandora’s having problems too. Not helping is the rise in popularity of Spotify, Google Play Music, Apple Music, and other services. Those music services offer either the ability to play a specific playlist of songs (including folding in your own music library), or offer a much larger music libraries. Per Wikipedia, Pandora’s got only 1.5 million songs in its library, versus Spotify’s 30 million songs.
By buying Rdio, Pandora hopes to be able to hold its own against Spotify and company. I’ve switched to using Spotify and Google Play Music as music services, but still keep Pandora bookmarked, and would hate to see it go under. I never used Rdio, so can’t say whether it’ll be missed, though it does mean one less music service choice available. Existing Rdio users might be pleased by the new-and-improved Pandora, though they might want to consider Spotify, Google Play Music, or Apple Music as possible alternatives.
Have you ever used Rdio? Will you miss it?
(Updated 11/18/15)
