Pandora vs. Slacker vs. Last.fm...

dgwood12 · Aug 3, 2010

So I recently got a new job where I can listen to music during the day and immediately thought of getting an internet radio app for my phone to supply me with an endless supply of tunes to get me through the day. The only problem is, I don't know which app and service to use. I have tried out pandora radio and last.fm and so far I like last.fm the best because you can skip as many times as you want. It seems to me that among the forums pandora radio is a favorite though. Is anyone educated in these three services enough to tell me the pros and cons of each? Like I said, I like last.fm because I am not limited by the number of skips I can have per day/hour like pandora and slacker. What does everyone suggest I use and why?

NexuSix · Aug 3, 2010

Pandora App, with a paid Pandora One account.

stainlessray · Aug 3, 2010

lastfm is a battery rapist, even if you don't scrobble. was fine for otherwise.

flu13 · Aug 3, 2010

I feel like Pandora gives you better control over what you get on your station than Last. Never used Slacker.

Niir · Aug 3, 2010

to bad last.fm is the only one available in the uk =(

OstrichSaK · Aug 4, 2010

I like Last.fm because I use Xbox LIVE and the ability to sync a single account between my Xbox 360's, PC's and mobile phone is a bonus for me.

Sev · Aug 4, 2010

I tried Slacker last night, it isn't that bad.

FletchF · Aug 4, 2010

I use both Pandora and Slacker. IMO, Slacker provides a less repetitive mix.

OstrichSaK · Aug 4, 2010

I used Slacker for a bit but got tired of not being able to skip tracks and some of the other features that they keep from doing w/o paying.

RightSaidJames · Aug 4, 2010

Last.fm is a much more developed service, you can do so much more with it.

dgwood12 · Aug 4, 2010

What is the advantage of the Pandora paid service? You get unlimited skips for the day but only 6 an hour right? I need a service with no skip limits...any services besides last.fm that provide that?

hood420 · Aug 4, 2010

I like Pandora the best. Last.fm and Slacker play too much junk music that I don't want to here. You may want to try Rdio: Rdio subscription service now open for business | MP3 Insider - CNET Reviews

It works quite a bit different from the rest of these, it may be what your looking for if your willing to pay.

dgwood12 · Aug 4, 2010

How well do each of these services "learn" from your skips and likes?

skipdividedmalfunction · Aug 4, 2010

Slacker provides no skip limits. I like how slacker gives you the option to ban the song or the artist. You definitely have more customizability using slacker. You check and uncheck which artists play on certain stations on their website. Slacker also offers caching your music, for offline playback which is very useful. I feel Pandora has better mixes for the music I listen to, however.

I like and use both Pandora and Slacker. Pandora ads are more annoying than Slacker ads imo. If Pandora One wasn't limited to skipping, I would have subscribed I reckon.

Edit: One more thing I like about Slacker is you can see what artist will be playing next.

dgwood12 · Aug 4, 2010

So slacker gives unlimited skipping? Is this limited to a certain amount an hour?

skipdividedmalfunction · Aug 4, 2010

no it's not limited in any way.

dgwood12 · Aug 4, 2010

Good to know. I don't understand why Pandora has to limit skips if services like slacker and last.fm don't...

skipdividedmalfunction · Aug 4, 2010

Taken from Pandora's FAQ

Due to the terms of our music licenses, we must limit the number of times you move on to a new song in any of these ways, known as "skips"

verditsgerman · Aug 5, 2010

I tried all three for a few days each a couple of months ago. Eventually ended up getting a paid slacker account. Pandora does it's playlists based on the way a song sounds, it's all done by computers. Slacker is done by actual people. I've found that listening to Pandora for hours on end resulted in either a few artist being played over and over, repeating songs, or it would get so far off from the starting point that I didn't even like the music anymore. Complete genre changes. Slackers customizable playlists blow Pandora out of the water.

I also use Grooveshark a ton. Being able to make my own playlists and listen to anything I want whenever I want is pretty awesome. $3 a month for Grooveshark means never having to buy another album.

NexuSix · Aug 5, 2010

verditsgerman said:
I also use Grooveshark a ton. Being able to make my own playlists and listen to anything I want whenever I want is pretty awesome. $3 a month for Grooveshark means never having to buy another album.

problem with grooveshark is there is no consistent audio quality, and most music on there is of poor quality.

If you train your Pandora One Stations correctly there is no need to skip, if you are using a service with unlimited skips it is because it is a poor service overall, if it was good you wouldn't have to utilize skips.

That said I find I hardly ever have to skip using Pandora One, it is just that good but you get out of Pandora One what you put into it.

skipdividedmalfunction · Aug 5, 2010

there is nothing with wanting to have unlimited skips. don't you like freedom?

dgwood12 · Aug 5, 2010

NexuSix said:
problem with grooveshark is there is no consistent audio quality, and most music on there is of poor quality.

If you train your Pandora One Stations correctly there is no need to skip, if you are using a service with unlimited skips it is because it is a poor service overall, if it was good you wouldn't have to utilize skips.

That said I find I hardly ever have to skip using Pandora One, it is just that good but you get out of Pandora One what you put into it.

How do you correctly train your channels?

Vyker · Aug 5, 2010

Personally I like slacker, but only if you subscribe. The advantages of having stations cached to your device are huge. I don't have to have data/wifi and the battery use for a whole day is about 15% of the total battery. The only thing I don't like is that you have to "sign in" at some point or the app won't launch. If I forget to sign in, then go to a place without data/wifi, I can't use the app.

dgwood12 · Aug 5, 2010

Vyker said:
Personally I like slacker, but only if you subscribe. The advantages of having stations cached to your device are huge. I don't have to have data/wifi and the battery use for a whole day is about 15% of the total battery. The only thing I don't like is that you have to "sign in" at some point or the app won't launch. If I forget to sign in, then go to a place without data/wifi, I can't use the app.

I guess I'm still on the fence. I like Pandora's selection but hate that I cant skip. I also like last.fm but it seems like when I select an artist to create a channel with I hear maybe one song from that artist. So I'm not sure what to do. After using Pandora a while do you have to skip much? It "learns" from your selections right?

staypuft · Aug 6, 2010

i love the song selection of slacker. i find stations to be more indepth than pandora. cached stations are real sweet as mentioned, you rarely get the same playlist unless you heart the song and it will just pop up a bit more randomly

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