Pandora Premium arrives on Google Home

Pandora Premium subscribers can now use their voice to control their music on any device with Google Assistant built in – including Google Home, Mini and Max, plus third-party smart speakers like Polk.

Set Pandora Premium as your default music streaming service, then simply say "Hey Google, play" followed by the name of a song, artist, playlist or station. If you want to play a song but can't remember the title, just say part of the lyrics and Pandora will find it for you.

You can rate tracks hands-free, giving them a thumbs up or down using only your voice. It's also possible to skip or repeat a track, or even make a whole new playlist with simple spoken commands.

Sounding good

Pandora Premium is a direct challenger to the likes of Apple Music, Google Play Music and Spotify, offering custom playlists, smart search and recommendations for $9.99 per month.

Support for Google Assistant is a long anticipated feature. Users of Pandora Plus and the free ad-supported service have been able to manage their tunes via via Google Home since September 2016, and its addition to Pandora Premium puts it more in line with its competitors.