Spotify isn't strictly a streaming internet radio service, but desktop
users experienced Pandora-like streaming for a while now. If you open
the desktop app, you can see the option to create streaming stations
based on specific genres or your favorite artists, Now, iPhone and iPad
users can perform the same using the Spotify mobile app, as well as of
all, they can do it at no cost.
Spotify and Pandora are both a few of your favorite internet radio
services, and internet radio happens to be a part of the desktop app,
but Spotify hasn't ever made it a priority (part of the reason Pandora
was your chosen.) That's all changed now: Spotify has peppered their iOS
app with buttons to create radio stations based on the artists you
could already listen to, and will build those stations using the
service's entire music catalog, not just the songs you already own.
Also, today's announcement means desktop and iOS users can now play
Spotify radio whenever they want, wherever they've an internet
connection, without paying a dime.
The brand new service comes with ads between every few songs plus a
limited number of skips per hour so you can't just blow through songs
you might not like. Of course, if you're a $10/month Premium member, you
receive around both of those caveats. The update is-like Spotify's
recently redesigned Android app-rolling out slowly, if you don't see it
yet, return later to grab the update. Android users, no problem: Spotify
says an updated Android app with free internet radio is on the way
soon.
Streaming music sites certainly are a dime-a-dozen, but internet radio
services-the kind that you press play, sit back, and revel in music that
you know you'll love and only interact if you hear something you
don't-are a rarer breed. Sometimes you're in the mood to just listen to
music, not a DJ. This week we'll take a look at five of the best
internet radio services, determined by your nominations.
For those times when you don't feel as if searching for something to
hear or curating a playlist, internet radio services deliver for the
promise to press use on a genre or song-based radio station and know you
are going to hear something you like. Sometimes it is possible to
interact with the station, other times you can't. We asked you which
ones internet radio services you thought were the very best, you weighed
in with lots of nominations, and now we're back to glance at the top
five.
TuneIn
We've mentioned TuneIn Radio before, though the mobile component is only
one section of what makes TuneIn such a great service. TuneIn lets you
listen to live radio stations around the air anywhere in the world,
wherever you will be. From electronic stations in Europe to talk shows
in Africa, there is an option to search the globe by location, genre,
station type, and even name or call sign, and start listening. You can
take TuneIn on the move on your Android, iPhone or iPad, Blackberry,
WebOS, or Windows Phone by downloading their free mobile app. Should you
be willing to drop $1, you can get the Pro version for iOS, Android,
and Blackberry, which allows you to record live radio for playback
later, pause live radio, rewind, and play back, and more. If you want
the real radio experience minus the AM/FM tuner, TuneIn gives it to you.
Soma.fm
Soma.fm has become broadcasting alternative, electronic, trip-hop, plus
more since around 2000, well before most streaming music entered its
prime, and well before people thought there was profit online radio-I
have pleasant memories of paying attention to Soma.fm for track ideas
after i was a DJ. The services are completely user and
listener-supported, this means no ads or commercials in your broadcasts,
and the channels and programs aired at Soma.fm are rarely heard
anywhere else. This means you must familiarize yourself with the show
schedules and that means you catch the ones you want to hear, and you
will make a point to donate to the service to keep it alive. Soma.fm has
mobile apps for iOS and Android, and mobile-friendly sites for just
about any mobile device with a browser.
Pandora
Pandora may be the juggernaut of internet radio. Using the Music Genome
Project, Pandora's promise happens to be to deliver you great new music
based on the music you already enjoy. Give Pandora the name of one of
your favorite artists, or perhaps a song that you really enjoy, then sit
back, relax, and hear similar songs by similar musicians that you will
definitely love. You interact with Pandora only by thumbs-up or
thumbs-down, having a certain number of song skips allowed in a very
given time period. Pandora mobile apps are around for Android, iOS,
Blackberry, and WebOS. Pandora is completely free, although
ad-supported, and if you would like nearly unlimited skips (six by the
hour), higher music quality, with no ads, you can drop $36/year for
Pandora One.
Slacker
Slacker Radio takes personalization to some whole new level. There are a
huge selection of genre specific channels you are able to play at any
time, with playlists which might be curated by actual human DJs who love
music and love their genres. Then, as you listen, you can personalize
those stations even more by giving Slacker feedback about what you love,
and banishing artists that you hate-something other interactive
services won't do. In addition Slacker's massive music library, stuffed
brimming with new music, and the actual human element where stations are
constantly rotating and changing playlists with new tunes and removing
stale ones no person likes, and you have a great internet radio service
with only the right amount of personalization. Mobile apps are for sale
for iOS, Android, Blackberry, WebOS, Windows Phone, plus more. Slacker
is free and ad-supported, but if you're willing to drop $4/month, you
can get Slacker Plus, which removes the ads, gives you unlimited song
skips, song lyrics, and station caching so you can listen for a while
offline. $10/mo gets you Slacker Premium, which gives you everything
Plus offers along with the on-demand artist and album playback,
single-artist stations, along with the ability to create playlists of
the songs you've heard and luxuriate in.
Spotify
We all remember when Spotify found its way to the US, after our own
glowing writeup on it, and we were all thrilled. Even though Spotify is a
full-service music player, music search tool, and jukebox,
additionally, it has some great hands-off radio features available as
shared, collaborative playlists that you can subscribe to, and a great
radio service that plays songs according to popular artists, or a
musician you provide. Searching popular stations organized by artist, or
use the genre tag cloud to play something based on your favorite form
of music. Spotify is more than just an invisible service, but it's a
pretty good radio service too. Spotify is free and ad-supported. Mobile
apps are for sale to Android, iOS, and Symbian, but for their services
you'll need a $10/mo Spotify Premium account, which also nets you
offline mode, better quality of sound, and no ads. If the desktop app is
enough for you, the $5/mo Spotify Unlimited account just gets the music
and radio devoid of the ads.
Honorable mentions now go out to Last.fm, which was one of several
pioneers of the internet radio category, and is still going strong with
genre-based stations and great artist suggestions based on the music you
listen to finally.fm, and in dozens of other apps that support Last.fm
scrobbling. 8Tracks fell just short of the nominations required to make
the five, but it's a fantastic internet radio service, complete with
well crafted playlists by users, anybody who loves music, or by genre.
Also worth a mention is Songza, which includes come a long way from its
"search any song and hear it" roots and is now an extremely great
streaming radio service.
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