Pandora adds more functionality to iPhone, Android apps

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Internet radio company Pandora is adding more functionality to its mobile apps - showing lyrics and artist information and making it easier to share self-crafted stations with friends -as companies intensify efforts to lure mobile advertising dollars.

Pandora is essentially bringing the features of its website to users of its apps for Apple and Android mobile devices. The app for iPhones is being released on Monday, while an Android version is expected to follow soon. Pandora also said it is releasing a version for Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 early next year.

Mobile use of Pandora's streaming service is growing quickly. In the quarter that ended in July, mobile listening nearly doubled from a year earlier and made up more than 75 per cent of its 3.3 billion listener hours.

Pandora is the leader in free online radio, where listeners can pick genres or styles of music but not specific songs or albums. It has 175 million registered users, including 58 million who use it in a given month. It claims a 73 per cent share of the market for free online radio.