Pandora is trialling new ‘Promoted Stations’ with 10% of its 76m monthly active users

Pandora is testing a new native ad unit called ‘Promoted Stations‘ with 10 percent of the people who tune in to its Internet radio service.

Currently in beta, these branded stations are auto-populated and then listed within the ‘Stations You Might Like’ section of the app. Initial partners for the new solution include Kleenex, Skechers, StubHub, Taco Bell and Toyota.

It’s difficult to predict what each station will look like though. The company said Promoted Stations will “drive Pandora listeners to custom content”, before suggesting they’ll all offer a slightly different blend of brand-related tunes. “Pandora consults with advertisers to produce content in a variety of ways based on the listening experience brands want to create for their respective audiences,” it said. “This can entail custom content from an artist or a mix of songs powered by Pandora’s Music Genome Project.”

With 76 million monthly active users spread across the United States, Australia and New Zealand, Pandora has a healthy user base for advertisers to target. Promoted Stations appear to be a good fit, although it remains to be seen if listeners want to listen to them over a regular non-stop playlist.

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