Pandora is a great Internet radio service, but one with its own set of problems. This Techspirited article looks at some real nice websites like Pandora which can beat the service at its own game.
Did You Know?
Pandora has a massive user base of over 80 million registered individuals.
Pandora is every audiophile’s delight. This online radio service has been at the forefront of the online music industry and has caught on like fire with music lovers the world over. It probably has one of the largest libraries of curated online music. Launched way back in 2000, one of the highlights of this service is its Music Genome Project which sorts tracks by about 450 musical characteristics, something the connoisseurs of music would really appreciate.
The service, however, is occasionally plagued by connection issues and downtime owing to the huge influx of traffic. Also, Pandora imposes a limit on the number of tracks that you can skip each day (6 skips per hour per station, for up to 24 skips in total per day). Also, the service is currently available only in America and Australasia. Over the years, Pandora alternatives have popped up all over the Internet, offering services just as good, if not better than Pandora. Here’s a list of some good alternatives to Pandora to try out.
Alternatives to Pandora
Spotify
Spotify is a service which has become rather popular in the past couple of years. It has a really vast database of music, right from the old classics to the latest hits across most genres. You do not have to worry about being bombarded by any pesky pop-ups, as this service is completely ad free. You also have the option to download music and listen to the tracks offline. A premium account gives you access to even better sound quality. Spotify works on computers, smartphones, tablets, and Smart TVs as well.
Website: Spotify
Google Play Music
Coming from the stables of the biggest name on the Internet, Google Play Music is one of the newest music-streaming services on the market. Unlike other services, Google Play Music lets you upload up to 20,000 songs for free on to its servers. It also lets you download music for listening to it offline. Its premium All Access service greatly enhances your music experience and brings in unmatched audio quality and some great options for discovering music online. The ad-free radio service is a welcome change from the many spam-rich music-streaming services available on the Internet.
Website: Google Play Music
iTunes Radio
iTunes is, perhaps, the undisputed champion of the music industry. Although iTunes has been around for quite a while now, it is only recently that Apple decided to take the plunge into the online music-stream industry. The service has about 250 curated Featured Stations which lets users discover music from across the years. iTunes has a massive music database that dwarfs that of Pandora and most other services. It is one of the best online-radio services available on the Internet today. Purchasing music too is an absolute breeze, and these tracks can then be downloaded onto your device for offline use. A cool feature of the service is the option to share your favorite stations via AirDrop, Mail, Messages, Twitter, and Facebook.
Website: iTunes Radio
Rdio
This is one of the leading music-streaming services out there. Rdio boasts of a massive collection of 20 million songs across a range of genres. While the free service is pretty good, you would need to pay a small fee to have uninterrupted access to the music library. It supports a range of devices, right from PCs, smartphones, and tablets to even Smart TVs. There’s also the option to listen to tracks through Roku, Sonos, or wireless speakers. The service also has good social networking support, which lets you view your friends’ favorite tracks and also share your favorites with them.
MOG
MOG has won rich accolades for its rather simplistic approach to music-streaming. The service offers more than 16 million tracks to choose from. You can opt to hear artist-only stations or try out the music on offer in the discovery mode. Tracks can be downloaded onto your device for offline use. The highlight of the service is the high-quality (320 kbps) streaming that it offers. There’s also rich social networking support for the service. MOG gives you a 14-day trial to try out all the features of the premium account. You can access the service through your computer’s Internet browser, or download an app for your phone, although you would need a premium account to play music on your phone. The service is currently only available in the U.S.
Grooveshark
Grooveshark is probably the world’s largest community of music lovers, with over 30 million users worldwide. Apart from popular artists and bands, this is a great place to find upcoming artists and bands. The service has great social networking integration and also gives you the option to upload your own tracks. The service is supported by PCs and Android devices. The sound quality of the tracks on this service are amongst the best in the business.
Songza
Songza might not have the largest library of tracks in the market, but it more than compensates for that with functionality. Once you download the app for the service on your phone, you can access playlists that are categorized by moods. It can even show you a playlist with tracks that would match your mood based on your current activity on the phone. The service has a song to go with every mood. You can choose one of the 6 moods on offer, or let the service randomly decide a track for you. Songza features one of the best collections of Indie music out there. Unfortunately though, people outside America and Canada do not currently have access to this service.
Website: Songza
8tracks
In the company’s own words, the service offers Internet radio created by people, not algorithms. Tracks are categorized into moods, and you have a really long list of moods to choose from. Like the name suggests, the service lets you make a mixtape with 8 or more tracks. You can even choose a title and cover for your choices, and share them online with your friends. This is one of the most intuitive and easy-to-use services out there and has support for major platforms.
Website: 8tracks
So, take your pick from this list, tune into your favorite station, and let the music take over. Cheers.