Pandora vs. Spotify
- Austin
- Mar 2, 2016
- 3 min read
Image Source: Turbulent 20 DOES NOT own this image.
Like the Apple iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy, Pandora and Spotify have been battling it out in the war for the ears of the world's music listeners. Everyone seems to have a favorite. For those of you that are somehow unfamiliar with either of the two, let's break it down and see what they have to offer in a head-to-head internet radio battle for the top.
Characterized by it's super cool blue colors and design. Pandora is easy to navigate and can be learned in a matter of minutes. All you have to do is make an account and search for a(n) music artist, album, song, or genre and it's automatically added to your "My Stations" which can be organized alphabetically or by recently played. The original free version of Pandora allows you a skip limitation of six songs per station per hour up to twenty-four skips per day and you are not permitted to create more than 100 stations. Just recently, Pandora changed their entire layout to their mobile application(s) and added several new features like the ability to browse for music based on your existing stations, your mood or activity. That's not all, Pandora offers something that might peek the interest of music listeners that hate pop-up ads and skip limitations: Pandora One. For a small fee of just $4.99 a month (although, it's important to note that they do offer other payment plans that you may consider to be a better deal) you have access to completely ad free music and more skips!
The visually pleasing combination of just the right shade of green logo and black background design will amaze anyone. Now, in terms of ease-of-use, Spotify may take more time for a beginner to wrap their mind around all the features and capabilities that Spotify has to offer. It's not exactly as direct and simple as Pandora, only because your account with the website has a social media compontent to their verson of internet radio and a tremendously helpful ability to organize and place your music you wish to keep track of. Even with the original free version of Spotify, you get of strict limitation of six song skips per hour, similar to Pandora, and you can search or browse for artists, albums, songs, genres, shows, or stations. However, Spotify allows you to create your own Playlists and personilize it however you like. Playlists has to be one of the most awesome features in internet radio because you can take a individual song and add it to any of your playlist and listen to it and other songs in your playlist whenever you feel like it. All of your music (artists, albums, songs, genres, shows, or stations) can be found in the "My Library" tab of your Spotify account with ease. You can also browse music in so many more ways than I can count (mood, activity, featured, hits, trending, charts (ex. United States Top 50), new releases, etc.). You can even follow your friends Spotifiy account and their Playlists if you like. There is so much more to just the free verson of Spotify, as if what I mentioned wasn't enough. Spotify takes an extra step and offers even more: Spotify Premium. Spotify Premium offers completely unlimited skips, completely ad free music, high quality audio, and even the capability to listen to your music library offline! All of that for $9.99 a month, which is slightly more than Pandora One, but still an amazing deal in my opinion when you take into account eveything it comes with!
I know by now you must be asking, "which one to YOU perfer Austin?" Well personally, I generally prefer Spotify for all of its organizational, music browsing features, and capabilities. However, there are times when I use Pandora when I feel the need to do something different every now and then. But by no means let my personal opinion keep you from trying them BOTH out for yourself. You never know what you might like more! There's no rule in the books that say you cannot have account with both providers and draw your own opinions and conclusions. Besides, I want to hear from YOU! Comment or send me a message and let me know what you like better. I want to know what you like and dislike about both.
Kommentare