At its current price point of free, it would seem that the twenty-seven million registered Pandora users would be happy with the service. Pandora is betting, however, that a significant portion of users will pay thirty-six dollars a year to make a few subtle improvents to the Internet radio experience. Upgrading the service eliminates all audio and visual adds, and allows the Pandora window to be minimized while in use. In addition, songs will stream in higher quality 192kps, users can customize their skins and will be able to listen for a full five hours before time out. Though conventional wisdom is that most users will gladly accept ads in order to avoid parting with the thirty-six dollars, the upgraded sound might be the carrot that makes the project profitable. It's also impossible to estimate how many people enjoy using Pandora and would pay nearly anything to make the window smaller. It could be that thirty-six dollars is undervaluing the service. [Hypebot]