What do you boys and girls use to stream tunes?
- Thread starter UNC71-00
- Start date
I'm an album guy, so I prefer Spotify. I'm not sure if you can get the free version on your phone or not, but you could on your PC.
If you have an Amazon Prime account, they have music now as well. Their catalog is not as extensive as Spotify, but you can likely find some good stuff to listen to.
If you have an Amazon Prime account, they have music now as well. Their catalog is not as extensive as Spotify, but you can likely find some good stuff to listen to.
Spotify is the best by far. You can get it for free on PC and listen to any song in any order (unlike Pandora where it creates a shuffled playlist).
You can also get it free on your phone, the only catch is it will play any playlist you've made, it will just randomize it, and occasionally throw in a song from a band on your playlist that isn't actually on the playlist, if that makes sense.
My advice is, if you need to stream to your phone not your PC, still download it on your PC, make a good playlist of like 50 songs or a few albums or whatever, then get it on your phone and play the playlists you've created (to me, it's just easier to create the playlist on your PC, but you can still do it on your phone)
You can also get it free on your phone, the only catch is it will play any playlist you've made, it will just randomize it, and occasionally throw in a song from a band on your playlist that isn't actually on the playlist, if that makes sense.
My advice is, if you need to stream to your phone not your PC, still download it on your PC, make a good playlist of like 50 songs or a few albums or whatever, then get it on your phone and play the playlists you've created (to me, it's just easier to create the playlist on your PC, but you can still do it on your phone)
Related question.
I'd love a music service that exposes me to more new music based on bands I like. Theoretically, Pandora does this. But my experience has been that Pandora will play maybe 30-40 new songs outside stuff I already know and then that's it. The circle doesn't get any wider than that.
I don't just want to hear the songs I already know/own all day. How well do other services do with new recommendations?
I'd love a music service that exposes me to more new music based on bands I like. Theoretically, Pandora does this. But my experience has been that Pandora will play maybe 30-40 new songs outside stuff I already know and then that's it. The circle doesn't get any wider than that.
I don't just want to hear the songs I already know/own all day. How well do other services do with new recommendations?
I mostly listen to Pandora for streaming. I have a bunch of stations with lots of different kinds of music, and often will put it on shuffle mode so that it creates a very random experience. I end up having to skip some that don't fit the mood of the day, but that's the downside of getting some outside influence in your playlist. I agree with RH that I'd like to have something that would do an even better job than Pandora of bringing in new but related artists. Pandora does pretty well, and does seem to improve with more input; ie. more stations (and more thumbs up and down, to a lesser extent, but I'm not convinced the algorithm pays that much attention to them).
When you think about it, it's amazing to even be having that conversation. Wasn't that long ago that if you wanted to listen to music you didn't own, you had one option - the radio, and limited to what was within AM or FM range in your area. Now you can listen to just about any radio station in the world online, plus all these different streaming services, plus stuff like NPR's All Songs Considered.
I set up a Spotify account but haven't really done anything with it yet. If I want to be that specific about what plays, I'll put on a CD or my ipod.
Streaming is a pretty small fraction of my listening, though. In my car it's usually the ipod on shuffle, and at home we pick out and play individual CDs most of the time. When I put on Pandora it's usually because I'm too lazy to decide what I want to hear.
When you think about it, it's amazing to even be having that conversation. Wasn't that long ago that if you wanted to listen to music you didn't own, you had one option - the radio, and limited to what was within AM or FM range in your area. Now you can listen to just about any radio station in the world online, plus all these different streaming services, plus stuff like NPR's All Songs Considered.
I set up a Spotify account but haven't really done anything with it yet. If I want to be that specific about what plays, I'll put on a CD or my ipod.
Streaming is a pretty small fraction of my listening, though. In my car it's usually the ipod on shuffle, and at home we pick out and play individual CDs most of the time. When I put on Pandora it's usually because I'm too lazy to decide what I want to hear.
Absolutely. We live charmed lives for sure. That's why I can't help rolling my eyes when somebody posts on Twitter that they're upset the regional airport they're flying through doesn't have a Starbuck's (as an example, although that really happened). We should count our blessings.
Raising, use Spotify and Last.fm for this function. You will discover stuff you haven't heard of, that is similar to your likes [you input parameters or a song or band]
If I'm streaming from my home PC it's Spotify.
If I want to listen to sports radio, I use Slacker Radio.
If I want to stream music to my phone, it's Pandora.
If I want to listen to sports radio, I use Slacker Radio.
If I want to stream music to my phone, it's Pandora.
Absolutely agree. A Spotify/last.fm combo works really well. You can connect spotify with your last.fm account and it will keep track of what you play and will give you recommendations (AKA Scrobbling).
This post was edited on 2/28 2:22 PM by Let'sGoDuke
