Pandora Launches Stories, Allowing Artists to Add Commentaries onto Playlists

With competitors unveiling new podcast and spoken-word features, Pandora has unveiled a new podcast-like feature.

Pandora has unveiled a new feature for artists.

The digital radio service has launched Stories, a new format which pairs songs with podcast-like features in a single playlist.

With the feature, artists can add track commentaries in between their works onto playlists.  This will allow them to upload, for example, spoken word commentaries discussing personal stories, calls-to-action, the history behind each work, etc.

This doesn’t only apply to artists.  According to the company, authors and ‘other creatives’ can employ Stories for storytelling, using licensed songs to add context.

Users can access Stories within Pandora’s Artist Marketing Platform (AMP), a suite of free, self-serve marketing tools for creators.  AMP includes Next Big Sound, an analytics service acquired by Pandora.

To use the new feature, creators can upload a ‘program.’  This includes a playlist or a mixtape.  Then, they can upload voice track, sequencing each to play before or after a specific song.  Creators can also set the track to play ‘alongside random content’ within the program.

For each voice track, creators can access analytics information, such as the total number of listeners, average minutes listened to, and the number of times users skipped the track, among other information.

To debut the feature, Pandora has unveiled some sample Stories.  In John Legend’s Glorious Journey, Legend discusses the history behind several hits, including ‘All Of Me.’  In The Music of Wes Anderson with Randall Poster, the latter discusses his favorite moments from Rushmore, Moonrise Kingdom, and other films by Wes Anderson.

Speaking about Stories, Chris Phillips, the digital radio service’s Chief Product Service, explained,

“Pandora Stories exemplifies our commitment to continually innovate for both our listeners and for artists and creators of all kinds using the power of music and audio storytelling tools.”

Current Premium subscribers can access Stories without any ads.  Non-paying users and Plus subscribers can use Stories after watching a 30-second ad.