On-demand subscription music service Rdio is looking to "become more like Pandora." GigaOM reports the service is currently developing a Pandora-like radio feature.
"We need to get better at passive listening," Rdio VP of Product Malthe Sigurdsson told GigaOM. On-demand music services like Rdio and Spotify offer millions upon millions of songs, but have found -- as Sigurdsson states -- that users crave a "lean-back" music experience. Or, if they do want to seek out new music for themselves, they need direction and recommendations.
So far, radio-like offerings seem to be the best solution.
Take Spotify for example. They've launched dozens of third-party apps in the past few months (RAIN coverage here and here). Many of these basically replicate what radio -- especially online radio -- offers: curation, pre-made listenable line-ups of music, and personalized recommendations.
Last.fm's Spotify app, for instance, gives users an instant music mix based on a single song they like. The app from We Are Hunted plays a stream of music sourced from music blogs across the web. Additionally, Spotify app developers recently gained access to The Echo Nest's API, which may yield even more radio-like apps powered by Spotify's giant music collection (RAIN coverage here).
And now Rdio is actively developing its own web radio-like service. The company already offers radio-like streams based either on an artist or users (find RAIN's review of Rdio's radio offerings here). GigaOM reports there's no word yet on when the Pandora-like service will be available on Rdio.
You can find GigaOM's article here.
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