Christopher Griffiths
Pandora - How to Not Suck (again) 07/05/2011
Ah, Pandora - the all giving mythological Greek progenitor... or the Music Genome Project. Today, when we open the pandoran pithos, we risk releasing atrocious advertisements. Evils of the eardrum seem to come spewing forth. Better, perhaps, than the more traditional famine, pestilence, and sorrow - but still annoying.
I've been using Pandora.com for years, and the algorithm still rocks. Chatting with a friend on the 4th, though, we shared a moment of sadness for our favorite purveyor of online radio. The thing is, we both LOVE our Pandora stations. We may have 20 set up, but we both listen almost exclusively to one. I listen to mine every day. 'Cause it's damn-near perfect. Even so, my friend and I are dangerously close to axing Pandora. Here's how they could fix that, in three easy steps.
1) Stop running crap ads. Hire Triggit, or an agency that doesn't suck. Customize sales content and make it inoffensive, because if I have to listen to one more cot-dayum "Drink it Good," pepsi ad, you're done.
2) Upsell me. I value the service, but I've been getting it free for a long time. Make me feel VIP-special for being a long-term customer. Give me an auto-renewing 6-month pass for $1, then charge what you want.
3) Run a Groupon. Living Social. Google deals. Yelp. Whatever! Folks pay $15 a month for XM, and it's a vastly inferior service. Get them used to paying.
As Heath Ledger's Joker famously quipped: "If you're good at something..." *licks chops* "...never do it for free."
I've been using Pandora.com for years, and the algorithm still rocks. Chatting with a friend on the 4th, though, we shared a moment of sadness for our favorite purveyor of online radio. The thing is, we both LOVE our Pandora stations. We may have 20 set up, but we both listen almost exclusively to one. I listen to mine every day. 'Cause it's damn-near perfect. Even so, my friend and I are dangerously close to axing Pandora. Here's how they could fix that, in three easy steps.
1) Stop running crap ads. Hire Triggit, or an agency that doesn't suck. Customize sales content and make it inoffensive, because if I have to listen to one more cot-dayum "Drink it Good," pepsi ad, you're done.
2) Upsell me. I value the service, but I've been getting it free for a long time. Make me feel VIP-special for being a long-term customer. Give me an auto-renewing 6-month pass for $1, then charge what you want.
3) Run a Groupon. Living Social. Google deals. Yelp. Whatever! Folks pay $15 a month for XM, and it's a vastly inferior service. Get them used to paying.
As Heath Ledger's Joker famously quipped: "If you're good at something..." *licks chops* "...never do it for free."
