How Pandora’s New Family Plan Compares to the Competition
This week, Pandora introduced a new family plan that allows six different members of the same family to use the service for the same price. The concept of a “family plan” is hardly new in the music streaming world; both Spotify and Apple Music offer similar deals for the same $ 15 / month price.
So which is the best deal? Differently. These days, all three services offer virtually the same music library. Your personal preference, as well as how well each service is compatible with the devices you use the most, is how you are likely to choose which streaming service you choose. (For example, if everyone in your house is already an avid Spotify user, there is no point in trying to move everyone to Pandora or Apple Music.)
Here’s a rundown of what you get with each service’s family plan:
Pandora Family Plan
The Pandora Family Plan costs $ 15 per month and can include up to six users. Each plan member must have their own Pandora account, and their accounts will work just like any other Premium account in the family plan – they can create personalized radio stations and playlists, listen without ads, and download music for offline listening.
Pandora families also have a station called Our Soundtrack, which creates a personalized mix based on what everyone in the family loves.
The Pandora Premium offering itself costs $ 10 per month, so if more than one person in your home uses a Pandora Premium account, then upgrading to a family plan is easy. Here’s a rundown of all Pandora-supported devices .
The Spotify family
Spotify Family also costs $ 15 a month, but allows you to start a family of five users who all have to live under the same roof. Everyone has their own unique Premium account, even if each account falls under the same $ 15 bill. A regular Spotify Premium account costs $ 10, so just like Pandora, there’s no reason not to use Spotify Family if multiple people – even those pretending to be family – love the Spotify offerings.
With Spotify Premium, you can listen to music both on demand and save it for offline listening later. Plus, premium members won’t be affected by ads. Spotify is compatible with most devices from the three major streaming services, so if you want to access your music on everything you own, this might be a service worth going for. Here is a rundown of all Spotify-enabled devices .
Apple Music Family
The Apple Music family plan is $ 15 per month and supports up to six family members. Each member of your family has access to the Apple catalog, as well as their own iCloud music library and music recommendations based on their personal preferences. Sharing is done through Apple’s Family Sharing, which also allows users to share photos, iCloud storage, and App Store purchases.
Of the three major streaming services, Apple Music is compatible with the fewest devices – although at least it runs on Android . However, good luck finding the Apple Music app on your favorite game console or Smart TV. If your whole family really has nothing to do with Apple, this is the worst deal of the three simply because of its limited multi-device family compatibility.