First Pandora IPO’d, then it hit 100 million users and now it is rolling out a redesign.
Ditching Flash in favor of HTML5, Pandora will be unveiling its new look first to Pandora One subscribers, rolling out to other users in the next few weeks.
We have yet to get our hands on the new Pandora (look for a walkthrough when we do), but word on the street is that it’s faster and much easier to use. The site hasn’t changed much in terms of layout, although it does have some new features.
Along the top of the site, there’s a music control bar that stays put as you click around; lyrics appear on the homepage, along with comments; and search has been tweaked. When you create a new station, as soon as you start typing, a drop-down menu will appear with suggestions tailored to your tastes (based on voting and listening history) as well as the keywords you’re searching for.
Pandora has also gotten a lot more social. It will now feature a “Music Feed” next to “Now Playing” that shows what all your friends on Pandora on are listening to, commenting on and Liking. Profiles have also been revamped, making them much more social locations, allowing you to check out other users’ activity and follow them with ease (you can still make your profile private, though).
The aim seems to have become keeping users within Pandora, checking out what friends are listening to and sharing their own activity in-site, much like a music social network.
Entertainment sites are increasingly trying to get into social. Apple’s Ping was a notable effort, as was Hulu’s recent integration with Facebook, allowing users to see what Facebook friends are watching, and to share specific video moments on the social network. MOG’s recently released HTML5 player features more recommendations with integration of Facebook Connect too.
What do you think of this social watching/listening trend? Are you down with broadcasting your tastes to the world?
More About: facebook, hulu, MOG, music, music subscription, pandora, redesign
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