I tried to purchase a Pandora One annual membership today through my iPhone. Every attempt was thwarted because I was repeatedly sent to the Pandora iPhone app and encouraged to sign up for the $3.99 monthly subscription through the App Store.
If I chose this route I would end up paying $47.88 before taxes every year and Pandora would only be receiving $33.52 after Apple’s 70/30 split. Now if they allowed me to buy a one year pass they would make all of the $36 fee. I understand their are rules to playing in Apple’s App Store, but to make it difficult for even the most enthusiastic of users to buy your product seems counterintuitive.
I’m glad Pandora made a profit during their most recent quarter, but if this is their best revenue generating model going forward they are going to be in trouble.