AND OVER.
Some people thrive on repetition and I am NOT one of them. Which is why I had to add some variety to my music streaming services:
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You may recognize the name Grooveshark because it's what we use to share songs and playlists on this blog. (One of the reasons it's awesome. You can make a playlist/"mixtape" and share it with all of your friends)
Grooveshark is like the lovechild of Pandora and Facebook; it combines music and social networking. I love it because it gives you control that Pandora doesn't. You can search their huge database for ANY song you want to hear and play it on demand. I think it's like Spotify in that sense, except better because it's free. It's perfect for those times when you just want to hear THAT ONE song without waiting for it to pop up on your station. Of course Grooveshark also has the nifty feature of creating a channel based on past songs you've listened to.
Pros:
- Free (with the option to pay for more features)
- Unlimited skipping songs you don't want to hear
- Able to listen to any song you want just by searching for it
- Huge selection of songs (seriously, they have everything)
- Ability to make and share playlists with anyone you want to
- You can navigate the site without stopping your playlist
- Excellent labeling of songs and ability to see everything you've listened to in a session (in case you want to find the name of a song you really liked)
Cons:
- Ads? But nowhere near as obnoxious as Pandora's
- Sometimes there are tons of versions of a song in their collection, including 30 second samples, so you have to make sure you pick the right one
- Takes more effort to set up a radio station than other streaming services
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8tracks is basically a mixtape sharing service. Users create mixtapes with whatever songs they want and publish it to the website where anyone can listen. It is definitely more widely embraced by trendy, hipster people. The only control you have is picking the mixtape you want to listen to and listening to it.
Pros:
- Free
- You can't see the entire tracklist of a playlist so it's kind of like playing Russian Roulette.
- You're more likely to hear songs you haven't heard before on these playlists.
- Ability to make and share playlists with anyone you want to
- Each playlist is carefully composed and arranged by a person ("instead of an algorithm"), so it's very personalized.
Cons:
- You can't see the entire tracklist of a playlist so it's kind of like playing Russian Roulette.
- You can't skip more than 3 songs on any playlist. So if you don't like a song...tough luck.
- Finding a good playlist takes a while. There are thousands to choose from and they are sorted by tags which are pretty broad.
- Not so great labeling of songs and it's kind of hard to see songs you've already listened to
- You have to leave the playlist window open to listen to playlist. So if you want to look around the site while listening to a mixtape you have to open a new window.
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Songza is like 8track's way more developed and sophisticated older sister. It is similar in that they are both playlist driven (as opposed to endless streaming like Pandora and Grooveshark), but different because it's just way more interactive.
I personally love the innovative way you choose what you want to hear. It begins with whatever day of the week and time of the day it is (and yes, your starting options are different depending on when you visit the website). Then you select what general mood of music you're in for, then it gets more specific until you pick the playlist Songza thinks will match your mood perfectly. It's called a concierge service and I think that pretty accurately describes it. (You can also browse popular lists or everything if you don't want to use the concierge.)
Pros:
- Free
- Fantastic interface and music finding process
- Unlimited skipping of songs you don't want to listen too
- You can navigate the site without stopping your playlist
- Great for finding songs you haven't heard before
- Excellent labeling of songs and ability to see everything you've
listened to in a session (in case you want to find the name of a song
you really liked)
- This 90's School Dance Playlist is perfection
Cons:
- If you want to listen to popular, well established songs then Songza probably isn't the best choice
- You can't see the entire tracklist of a playlist so it's kind of like playing Russian Roulette.
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So this is a less well known one and it's kind of a hilarious concept. Basically the website creates a playlist based on what type of music you'd enjoy while on some drug (weed, lsd, ecstacy or shrooms). First you pick your drug, then you pick your level of "messed up", generate playlist and listen! It's really simple and easy.
Pros:
-Free
- Simple Simple Simple
- Unlimited skipping of songs you don't want to listen to
- Great for finding songs you haven't heard before
- Excellent labeling of songs and ability to see everything you've
listened to in a session (in case you want to find the name of a song
you really liked)
Cons:
- If you want to listen to popular, well established songs then Stereodose probably isn't the best choice
- Your limited in your selection of music to the drug related playlists
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If Songza is 8track's sophisticated older sister, Everyone's Mixtape is the younger brother. But that lack of sophistication is what makes it so endearing! The cassette tape motif harkens back to the time when mixtapes where invented, a time before there were iPods or CD's. The playlists are created by users and shared with everyone.
Pros:
- Each playlist is carefully composed and arranged by a person, so it's very personalized.
- Great for finding songs you haven't heard before
- You can see the playlist's entire tracklist and freely select any song on the list to listen to.
- Unlimited skipping of songs you don't want to listen to
- Ability to make and share playlists with anyone you want to
Cons:
- Relies on external sites (eg. Youtube) for streaming, and Youtube is getting obnoxious about removing songs from its servers because the hateful music industry folk won't evolve with times. At any rate, sometimes songs will be missing from a playlist.
- The layout is creative and different, but it also messes up in weird ways and you may have to refresh the page to fix it.
So there it is. Pandora got you in a slump? Branch out, check out these competitors. You may be pleasantly surprised to find your new favorite streaming service!
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