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Last.fm fits somewhat between Spotify and Pandora, in that you can play thirty-second samples of some (but by no means all) songs to help you decide how to seed your station, but it otherwise reverts to the station model.Ĭhoice - Based on raw numbers, Spotify has the largest catalog of the three, clocking in at 15.5 million tracks as of a year ago. Then I’ll have to hope it shows up as Pandora offers me a series of songs similar to its idea of what the Stones sound like, a sensibility generated by the Music Genome Project. And if I want to hear one of my personal favourites - “Stray Cat Blues,” say, or “Torn and Frayed,” Last.fm and Pandora focus on this radio approach, and are based around the idea of “stations.” My search on Pandora for the Stones starts “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” playing this song, apparently, is typical of the band’s style, which, according to Pandora, “features electric rock instrumentation, a subtle use of vocal harmony, mild rhythmic syncopation, extensive vamping, and major key tonality.” I’m a sucker for extensive vamping, and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” is archetypal mid-period Stones, but I had no choice of which Rolling Stones song Pandora played (a subsequent search played “Paint It, Black” instead). Spotify doesn’t make you do all the work, though, offering an “artist radio” option for playing songs chosen by the service based on a selected band. For example, search for “Exile on Main Street” by the Rolling Stones, double-click “Rocks Off,” and when that song finishes, Spotify simply moves on to play “Rip This Joint,” as Keith Richards intended. Of the three, only Spotify allows you to choose specific albums and songs to listen to. On closer inspection, though, differences emerge. What They Do - At their simplest, all three services stream songs based on selections you make.
So I waited until the family were out, plugged my best powered speakers into my laptop, fired up the three services, and - oh, the things I do for TidBITS - I spent the afternoon listening to my favourite music.Īlthough I didn’t look at them, there are other services - most notably Rdio and Mog - that offer features and pricing nearly identical to Spotify’s, so if you decide that you like the type of service Spotify offers, but have an issue with something related to Spotify specifically, it might be worth checking them out. The three main players in this space - Pandora, Spotify and Last.fm - offer broadly comparable services, with a few details to separate them.
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But, quietly, outside the Apple spotlight, online music streaming services have matured, to the point where one could rely entirely on them for one’s listening, listening for free (with ads) or paying a monthly subscription fee instead of purchasing individual tracks and albums. To be sure, the iTunes Store, bolstered by hundreds of millions of iPods and iOS devices, has turned the market for purchased music on its head.
The way we consume music has changed radically in the last decade.
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#1627: iPhone 14 lineup, Apple Watch SE/Series 8/Ultra, new AirPods Pro, iOS 16 and watchOS 9 released, Steve Jobs Archive.#1628: iPhone 14 impressions, Dark Sky end-of-life, tales from Rogue Amoeba.#1629: iOS 16.0.2, customizing the iOS 16 Lock Screen, iPhone wallet cases, meditate for free with Oak.
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