Hey Pandora! New vocal assistant Voice Mode arrives

Pandora has started rolling out Voice Mode, its new native voice-enabled smart assistant which will allow mobile listeners to find new music.

The command ”Hey Pandora!” generates personalised requests based on each user’s tastes and listening history.

Like other voice assistants, as Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri, it will identify a song, change stations, podcasts and playlists, control volume, skip or pause tracks, and add to different playlists.

Requests can be made based on music genre, mood, artists or activity.

Voice Mode was created in partnership with leading music identification technology company SoundHound’s Houndify AI platform.

“Pandora is the leader in personalized audio entertainment, and millions of our listeners are already loving the experience we’ve created on smart speakers and other voice-enabled connected devices,” said Chris Phillips, Pandora’s chief product officer.

“With Voice Mode, we are introducing an even more natural and conversational way for listeners to discover new music and enhance their experience directly in the Pandora mobile app, like getting recommendations from a friend who really knows you.”

Voice Mode is initially on iOS and Android with plans to widen down the track.