Anybody subscribe to Pandora?

[YOT 3,743]

I recently put a new stereo in my truck that plays bluetooth from my phone. I let Sirius lapse because I'm going to switch to XM (the stereo is XM ready) if I decide to turn it back on.

 

I'm curious about Pandora, though. Anybody subscribe and have +/- advice. You don't have to answer if you don't use it.

[Jpanzer 1,265]

I thought Sirius XM was now the same thing?

[socom688 217]

I use the regular free Pandora because I am cheap . I believe the Pandora subscription is the same deal without the ads and there isn't a cap per month of how many hours you can listen too. Some people swear the music is more clear, but with my free version the music sounds plenty good to me. Is it worth it? If you listen to it a lot, like in the car, at the gym or at work, then I say yeah go for it! But I have no personal experience with it myself

[PRISONSHANK 70]

I've used the paid version for a few years now and love it, totally worth the $

you can have a ton of devices on the same account, the only restriction so far is it limits you to 100 stations.

[YOT 3,743]

I thought Sirius XM was now the same thing?

 

That is not what I was asking about. I'll switch, if I resubscribe, because the stereo is XM ready, and if I go with Sirius I'll need a serial bus to hook up the Sirius receiver. Another $70

Edited November 2, 2012 by Yeoldetool

[dayofruin 425]

I use the free pandora. Works great for me and I like the fact that I can customize stations. When I search a band, I get the one i searched for and others like them. I've found a lot of new bands I like using pandora.

[Dad2142Dad 6,559]

I thought Sirius XM was now the same thing?

 

There is just one company, however the radios are different and so are the content.

[ben4345 123]

I have the paid version. But I can only speak for home use. It is worth it if you listen to enough music.

[Syndicate 812]

last.fm ftw

[mgconnor13 206]

I use the free version on my computer at home all the time and I really like it.

[RobRez 1,895]

Got it. Use it. Like it.

[gunfun 3,931]

I use the free version to stream content on my PCs plumbed through a high quality audio system. The audio quality of the free version is good enough that it doesn't bother me now. I am pretty picky about this.

 

I can't say anything about the paid streaming service through an XM stereo. I would only ever consider anything like that if I were a trucker, or some other kind of worker who spent all day in a car. Even still, I would probably rather have a shock proof hard drive with a TB or so of music and audio books.

 

I use an XM capable stereo that will take normal HD FM stations without a subscription. I have a 32 gig micro thumbdrive that mounts flush and inputs for other sources such as MP3, or streaming off of a smart phone. I like not having a monthly bill, and being able to choose my music and own it on demand rather than choose a category and hope they give me what I want.

 

An example of how pandora works: I made a pandora "channel" around Johnny Cash, then they made a movie about him. After the movie 3/4 of the songs on that channel were sung by Joaquin Phoenix. Open letter to Pandora: Joaquin Pheonix =/= Johnny Cash. Also if I down vote every song by him to remove it from the station, don't give me the identical songs, but from a different compilation.-- rant off.

 

Then again, I am whining about a free service.

[romad7 75]

Pandora is great, I use the paid version all the time. Totally worth it but try it for free and see if you like it. It does more than music too, I listen to stand up comedy a lot on Pandora.

 

Last.fm is pretty good too, I think I switch because of music availability, it's been a while. Free too so worth a look.

 

I use Rhapsody too. You create your own playlists with only the music you want. They have Pandora like stations too. You can download music for offline listening too as long as you are a subscriber.

[Syndicate 812]

last.fm is always free on pc/xbox and qaulity isn't capped, they only do a pay service for mobile streaming, and it's only $30 a year. Also the metadata system for genre/artist matching is 400000000000000 times better then pandora.

 

I've selected Radiohead on pandora and then gotten country, or once justin beiber, ya screw that noise. never listened to country or justin beiber even once by station.

[VR762Shooter 838]

last.fm is always free on pc/xbox and qaulity isn't capped, they only do a pay service for mobile streaming, and it's only $30 a year. Also the metadata system for genre/artist matching is 400000000000000 times better then pandora.

 

I've selected Radiohead on pandora and then gotten country, or once justin beiber, ya screw that noise. never listened to country or justin beiber even once by station.

 

I had Radiohead on Pandora at work. free version so you had limited skips. They started some weird ass techno crap. I think they stretch a bit on some of their selections

[Jpanzer 1,265]

I thought Sirius XM was now the same thing?

 

There is just one company, however the radios are different and so are the content.

 

Ahh. Understood. Thanks for clearing that up Dad....

[gunfun 3,931]

good point I think pandora uses an mostly unweighted tag based system. The more tags in common the higher likely hood it will pop up on their list. They only compare to music they have license for though. I believe artist names and band members are weighted tags, and everything else is pretty open.

 

I remember reading back around 2004/2005 when it was new that they started by hiring a bunch of music experts to classify a bunch of music by the types of tempo, cadence, hormonal resonance, and a bunch of musical concepts that are way past my depth. That's all good, and I like to find new things I wouldn't have found on my own. The problem is it is also comparing tags like "loud" and "lots of bass" that could easily catch everything from techno to pop-country under the same term.

 

Amazon's taste predictive engine is probably the smartest I have played with. It lets you tinker with the gears too. They tell you why they suggested something and let you adjust whether or not they should consider a selection, a variable, and how heavily it should be weighted. So I can buy something terrible for a friend, and tell it not to recommend music to me based on that choice.

[jeremiahisnaked 64]

Free version is worth the occasional ad.

[YOT 3,743]

I'm trying like hell to like it, but the breaks in service are driving me nuts.

[romad7 75]

I hate the breaks too, I went ahead and did the paid version. It's worth the cost to me.

[YOT 3,743]

I hate the breaks too, I went ahead and did the paid version. It's worth the cost to me.

 

Does the paid version alleviate the breaks, or just the commercials and ads?

[dayofruin 425]

I've never had anything off genre pop up while listening to Blind Guardian and the such.

[romad7 75]

I hate the breaks too, I went ahead and did the paid version. It's worth the cost to me.

 

Does the paid version alleviate the breaks, or just the commercials and ads?

 

I haven't used the free version in a while but I thought you were talking about commercials, are the breaks when it asks you if you are still listening?

 

I don't get any interuptions, breaks or commercials with Pandora One (paid version). I use it when I am on the road for 6+ hours and get continuous music as long as my connection is good (AT&T gets spotty sometimes in the certain areas).

 

I think it's only $4 a month so definitely check it out and see if it works for you.

[YOT 3,743]

Yeah, It's the connection I think is the problem sometimes.

[romad7 75]

If your connection is spotty then Rhapsody might be good for you. You pick the music instead of the service picking for you. You can save your playlists though so if you don't have Internet or just a bad connection then your music will still play. I use both services.

[YOT 3,743]

After using Pandora (free) for the last couple days, it seems I only get "connection" problems after I hit the skip button. Switch the channel and it plays fine again, but go back to the previous channel and still breaking up the songs. It's like trying to stream with dial-up.

[projo198 14]

I've used Pandora for a long time, I even plug my phone into my car stereo and use it on the road.

 

That being said I was out of town last month and tried GrooveShark. I like it a LOT better because you can select certain songs, Pandora just lets you choose a song or artist and it chooses like music for you.

 

I don't think there is a mobile app for GrooveShark though.

[Syndicate 812]

if you want to listen to and find new music like pandora is supposed to help you with, then Last.fm is for you!

 

I should get a job with them Mercenary Marketing will be my style

[romad7 75]

After using Pandora (free) for the last couple days, it seems I only get "connection" problems after I hit the skip button. Switch the channel and it plays fine again, but go back to the previous channel and still breaking up the songs. It's like trying to stream with dial-up.

 

Yeah, that sounds annoying. I think it buffers a certain amount so if you are on a slow connection it might take longer to load.