Spotify or Pandora, which is the streamiest?

Read on Geeks.com

I left both my 1TB hard drive filled with music and my iPod at home this morning. On the drive in to work, I had to resort to listening to CDs! I got to work and wondered what I would listen to, and decided to do a little streaming with Pandora Radio on my phone. There are a lot of choices out there competing for your attention in the “streamosphere”. Undoubtedly the two top contenders are Pandora and Spotify. They’ve got a lot of similarities, but they’re also very different. 

Pandora is an online streaming radio site with 150 million users that’s actually been around for quite some time (since 2000) compared to the relative newcomer Spotify. You can stream Pandora online in your browser, or you can download the app to your computer or mobile device. With Pandora, you can create your own streaming “stations” based on an artist, song, or even genre. Pandora’s musical algorithm quickly puts together a station with a wide variety of artists and songs similar to what you’ve indicated you’d like to base the station on. 

The Pandora algorithm is surprisingly accurate and relevant and matches well with what you tell it you like. The algorithm is based on the Music Genome Project, a ten year ongoing analysis and catalog of music ranging from the latest pop gems, back to the hits of the Renaissance. When a song plays, you can give it a thumbs up or down, and the algorithm will get more dialed in to what you like. You can also skip the song if you don’t like it, but only for a limited number of times in the free version of Pandora. 

Pandora has nearly a million songs in its database, and allows user to stream for free in an ad based version. I’ve found the ads infrequent, and not that much of a distraction. I like the accuracy of the Pandora algorithm, and don’t often find myself skipping songs in my stations. I make sure to give thumbs up and down when I can, to keep getting good results. When I do skip, I’m usually not bothered by the limit in the free version. I have quite a number of stations set up, and find myself most often using the “QuickMix” function, which pulls from all of your channels. I like the variety, and once again, the relevancy of the musical choices. 

Spotify has gotten a lot of notice over the last couple of years. It was first available in Europe only, but launched in the US in 2011. Spotify has streaming rights to nearly 18 million tracks, so it has a much bigger catalog than Pandora. The biggest distinction is that Spotify music is available on demand. You can select an artist or album and stream it for free in your web browser or on a mobile device with ads. To listen without ads, you have to upgrade to the Premium account for $9.99 a month. That’s the main drawback to Spotify. 

Spotify is very socially integrated, allowing the creation of playlists, and sharing of playlists, albums, and songs. Spotify is Facebook oriented, requiring users to link Facebook accounts with their Spotify accounts. If you do so, you’re also authorizing frictionless sharing, so your friends on Facebook will see what you’re listening to. From experience, you’ll see that your friends will like and comment on the popular stuff you listen to, but might give you some grief for some of your guilty musical pleasures! This is a drawback for a lot of users. 

Spotify has nearly 10 million users, with 3 million of those being paying users. Spotify is also bigger globally than Pandora, and is available in 13 countries. Pandora’s license only applies to US operation. 

In 2012, Spotify launched a free radio feature in the US, currently for use on iPad and iPhone, and taking a chunk out of Pandora’s pie. Pandora might be sweating a bit, but it’s going to take Spotify some time to get where Pandora is, if they can manage to take that market. I would imagine Spotify could have some success cannibalizing those users like me who use BOTH services. Plus there’s the lure of the much larger catalog. Time will tell to see how Pandora adjusts to this challenge. 

So which is the winner? It depends on what you want to do. If you like a lot of variety, Pandora is the way to go, more like a radio station. Spotify is a bit more like having your music collection online – they don’t have EVERY artist and EVERY album, but I’ve usually found most of what I’m looking for. I think both Pandora and Spotify are winners, and I’d recommend using both, as they both have free versions available. 

For me, I’m starting to use Pandora streaming on my phone more and more. I like the “QuickMix” function, and the accuracy of the songs in the stations. I like the ability to skip songs I don’t like, and the thumbs up and thumbs down function. I don’t find myself using it on my computer at home, unless I’m mowing the lawn or doing yard work and I’m streaming on my phone. 

I’m considering upgrading to Spotify premium so I can pretty much have my music collection available on my phone for less than the price of an average CD a month. I like to be able to go to specific artists and albums, and I like the size of the catalog. I’ve got a lot of artist “best of” playlists on Spotify, and a lot of mixed playlists as well. I don’t mind that on Facebook you might see some of my guilty pleasure listens, like my affinity for 80′s pop music. 

Trends are showing that teens prefer streaming to downloading and even buying music online. Obviously CD sales are down. With the increase in use of mobile devices, it’s getting more and more convenient to stream music. The music industry as a whole has failed to adequately adapt to the digital revolution. If you put it out there in digital format, people will find a way to get it for free. 

My Video Store is Gone, What Do I Do Now?

Originally posted on the Tree.com Arts Channel

So a couple of weeks ago I hopped in the car and drove over to the video store to rent a movie. I pulled up and there were three giant construction site dumpsters in front of the local video store, and workers were carrying out the racks that the DVDs had been on. The store was a shell. It was gone. I don’t know what happened, but I do know we had to find a new place to rent videos.

We’re already set up with Netflix via the Wii, and have our On-Demand selections. But, the reality of not being able to go to the video store really hit home with me. My first cool teenage job was working in a video store at the height of the VHS craze. This was the ea if the neighborhood Mom and Pop, video store. Then the big chain video stores like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video came along and killed a lot of the smaller stores.

Netflix has been around for a few years and is a fantastic model. You sign up for an account, and you can get a certain amount of DVDs for as long as you want. No late fees! This alone may have been the biggest death knell for Blockbuster! More recently, Netflix added streaming options. You can watch movies on your computer, mobile device or through your TV using your Wii, Playstation 2, XBOX 360 or computer. Netflix is trying to move away from the DVD via the mail model that made them famous, and trying to go more and more streaming.

Visiting Redbox is kind of like going to the video store if your video was a red phone booth. You can reserve a movie via the Redbox website, choose a location for pickup, and then rent your DVD from one of the handy kiosks. Basically swipe a credit card, and enter your email address and you can grab your movie and go! Redbox is going to offer streaming services starting some time in 2011

Cable providers supply many movie options, depending on the package you have. There’s always some movie on TV somewhere. Premium cable channels like HBO, Showtime, and Starz all offer on demand selections a well. Gone are the days when you’re stuck with whatever movie is being shown in a certain time slot on a premium channel. You can now go to the on-demand premium channel and choose from just about any of the films, special programs or series that are running on that channel that particular month.

Most cable providers now off their own on-demand programming options as well. Most of the major networks and cable stations offer popular programs on-demand soon after their premieres, most often for free. You’ll also find a variety of newly released films and other titles for a fee.

Click on over to TV.com to…well, watch TV online. Here you can watch popular TV series, talk with fans, and get news on your favorite shows. You can watch shows and videos for free, but if you register, you participate in a points system. Activity on the site gains you points, and the more points you have, the more recognition you get in the TV.com community.

Hulu offers some of the top TV shows, movies and videos. With Hulu Plus, you can stream the site content on your TV, mobile device, or computer. Mobile phone support is continuing to evolve, with the iphone fully integrated, and Droid compatibility coming soon.

iTunes offers streaming content as well, including the most current releases available. Apple TV is a related service that offers HD movies, Netflix integration, MLB and MBA games, as well as iPhone, iPad, and iPod integration.

So there are many options out there, once your local video store goes away. You just need to find an option that works for you. Consider how you want to view the content. If you only want to view content on your TV, look into Netflix, Redbox and your cable providers. If you’re a little more flexible or specifically want to see movies and TV shows on your computer or mobile device, again look at Netflix, but also don’t forget TV.com, Hulu, iTunes and even Apple TV.

I’ll be streaming, but still looking for a nice neighborhood video store.