Pandora Partners With SoundHound on Voice Control Technology for Mobile App

Pandora rolled out voice control, based on SoundHound's Houndify voice and conversational artificial intelligence platform, to select iOS and Android users, it said Tuesday, with general availability “coming soon.” Voice Mode is designed to be a more natural and conversational way for listeners to discover new music and enhance their experience in the mobile app, said the company. After using a Google-esque "Hey Pandora" wake phrase, users follow with a request to change stations, control volume, skip or pause music and other basic navigation commands. The voice mode uses natural language understanding technology to respond to requests based on users’ personal tastes, not just what’s popular, Pandora said. They can make open-ended requests such as “Play something different” or “play music for relaxing,” or request a specific artist, podcast or playlist, it said.