Monday, June 2, 2008

Pandora Internet Radio Review

I had been listening to my custom station on Slacker (internet) Radio for nearly a year now, but they recently started to play ads in between songs, so of course they had to go. I don't mind visual ads around the player, but if I want commercials I'll listen to old fashioned radio.

My buddy at Nigzich Nutrition and Fitness recommended Pandora internet radio, and I must admit I like it, a lot.

First let me state what I like about Slacker over Pandora, and then I'll rant about Pandora.
Slacker Pros:

  • Ban artist feature
  • Adjust how many artists are recommended
  • The ability to make exclusive stations
  • Can add comedians
Cons:
  • Ads
  • Poor variety
  • Radio times out when left inactive
  • Slacker portable is just lame
  • Premium features are constantly dangled in front of you, why don't you understand that not wanting to pay for radio doesn't make me cheap!
Now on to Pandora

Pros:
  • No audio ads
  • Simple intuitive navigation
  • Station sharing with friends and messaging (I know it's a marketing ploy, I don't care)
  • Approval and disapproval of songs
  • Snooze option allows you to disable a song for a month, I really like this feature
  • The Human Music Genome Project really does learn what you like and ends up playing some great music as a result
  • The ability to purchase songs or albums on iTunes or Amazon
Cons:
  • Can't ban artists, only songs
  • Can't build exclusive stations that ONLY play a limited number of artists
  • Also times out after a span of inactivity
I'm very pleased with it, there have been several times where it plays a song and my reaction is, "I LOVE this song, and I totally forgot that it existed!"

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