Pandora bumps its premium subscription fee to $4.99 per month

Pandora is getting a little more expensive. Starting in May, and for new subscribers, the Pandora One monthly subscription service will cost $5. Existing subscribers that remain active will keep paying $3.99 a month to listen to Pandora without any ads. As Pandora notes in a blog post, the subscription service hasn’t had a price hike since 2009 when it debuted for $36 a year. Later, Pandora offered to bill the service monthly $3.99.

Pandora will soon charge new subscribers a bit more to enjoy ad-free internet radio. Starting in May, anyone who signs up for the company’s premium service (Pandora One) for the first time will have to pony up $5 a month, a buck more than the current rate. The company explains that its operating costs have grown since it started offering ad-free radio in 2009, hence the price increase. As you’d expect, royalties are one of the biggest contributing factors despite Pandora winning in court against the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers’ demands for larger rates. In addition to upping its monthly price, the company’s also killing the annual $36 subscription option altogether.