Pandora is leading the internet radio front by entering your car

While competition in the streaming music service market has steadily increased over the past year, Pandora is still strongly in the lead, according to new metrics the company announced at the Consumer Electronics Show today.

The company claims to have 68 percent of the internet radio market share, which is up slightly from what the company reported during quarterly earnings in November. Pandora now has 125 million registered users, and the average active user listens to 18 hours of music per month. That’s pretty good considering all the other choices available (Spotify, Rdio, MOG, etc.).

Pandora is also leading the pack when it comes to connected devices and partnerships. The company’s updated metrics state that Pandora is now available on over 450 connected devices, including many automotive music systems. And the car radio is arguably one of the few places where radio still matters in our ultra-connected world of mobile devices. So, Pandora having partnerships with 23 auto companies (up from the four partnerships it had a year ago) is a big deal.

In terms of maximizing Pandora availability on more devices, it’s a very smart strategy. This is the way Netflix was able to gain a significant lead into the streaming video market.

For more news out of this week’s Consumer Electronics Show, be sure to check out VentureBeat’s live coverage from CES 2012.