More Music

167 days ago in Apple, Articles, Music by Wardy Miller | 1 Comment

My last post was about iTunes 11, and that started me thinking about different music players. In Windows you also have iTunes but also Windows Media Player. But I would be remiss to not discuss other music players. There are many out there and may have there own strengths and weaknesses. So let’s get to it.

Pandora – (free) http://www.pandora.com This was really one of the first web based radio players. Pandora allows you to create your own radio station. The first thing you do is provide Pandora with a song, then Pandora creates your station based on the seed song, and will play songs that are by the same band and similar bands. Not a bad proposition, but Pandora tends to quit playing, to see if you are still listening, which can be annoying.

Slacker – (free) http://www.slacker.com Slacker radio is another web based player. Slacker is more like a traditional radio station in that you select the genre of music you want to listen to and it plays. Pretty much no frills, but they do have many popular bands. Not bad if you are looking for a quick and easy method of getting background music, while you are working or gaming on your computer.

Songza – (free) http://songza.com Songza is a little different than most music players. Songza lets you choose music, based on your mood. When you first go to the site it will ask if you want a playlist based on the time of day, or on the activity that you are doing. For example some of the choices might be, Sunday afternoon then catagories for that time of day such as relaxing at home, doing housework, brand new music, saving the world, or reading. Then based on your choices you are given a choice of playlists. It’s a pretty cool concept, to choose your playlist based on mood.

iTunes Match – ($25.00/year) This really isn’t internet radio, but it is still streaming music. iTunes match requires that you use iTunes but it gives you the ability to have your ENTIRE iTunes library at your disposal. Additionally it allows you to share your playlists, not only with your computers, but also with your iOS devices. After you upload all of your music, anything that is in the iTunes store, you can download a high quality MP3 on any of your iOS devices or computer. I am a fan of iTunes match for the price and ease of use.

These are just a few and there are many more out there. Now comes the part for audience participation, what do you use? One of these or something differant all together? Let us know in the comments.