Pandora launched the next generation of its artist marketing platform (AMP) to make it easier for musicians to “grow an audience, track progress and connect with fans”.

The move comes at a time when the music streaming market is becoming increasingly competitive, with Spotify gearing up for an IPO, Apple Music gaining ground, and the launch of Amazon Music Unlimited.

AMP features a dynamic feed of an artist’s campaign activity, performance metrics and suggestions for new campaigns.

AMPcast, in limited release since earlier this year, is now open to all artists so they can geotarget Artist Audio Messages, share messages via social networks, or save draft messages to edit at a later time, all from the Pandora mobile app.

Artist Audio Messages enables artists to customise a short message with images or calls to action, set it to play before or after a specific track, and geotarget fans in specific markets.

Singer Ariana Grande recorded a series of Artist Audio Messages encouraging listeners to pre-order her new album. The click-through rate was “a staggering 8.1 percent”, five to seven times seen for social and paid channels, and drove significant pre-orders, Pandora said.

“AMP eliminates guesswork, helps break new artists, surfaces new music from established artists and creates new revenue streams,” said Sara Clemens, COO.

Artists can promote a new single and receive real-time feedback such as thumbs up or down.

AMP is also integrated with Ticketfly, which Pandora acquired a year ago for $450 million, allowing artists to promote shows at Ticketfly venues.

More than 6,000 artists are using AMP and more than 5,400 Artist Audio Messages have been heard by Pandora listeners nearly half a billion times.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Pandora pushed out more than 5,400 audio messages to date, with an average of 5 per cent of listeners who heard messages announcing tour presales clicking through to potentially buy tickets.

Pandora is regularly selling 10 per cent to 30 per cent of the inventory on tours that it promotes and tickets, the report added.