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iTunes Radio vs Pandora One vs Spotify

iTunes Radio vs Pandora One vs Spotify

  • Pandora One

    Votes: 13 28.9%

  • iTunes Radio

    Votes: 21 46.7%

  • Spotify

    Votes: 8 17.8%

  • Other

    Votes: 3 6.7%
  • Total voters
    45
acore

acore

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 18, 2013
81
0
USA
Great article posted on Forbes comparing the PAID versions of Pandora One, Spotify and iTunes Radio. While it appears iTunes Radio has better Audio quality it appears that Pandora One is the winner in generating music selection according to this article. While Spotify appears to be the biggest loser overall.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/amadoud...s-streaming-radio-versus-pandora-and-spotify/

Another interesting article by Forbes on Pandora:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/amadoudiallo/2013/10/06/pandora-radios-dominance-built-on-big-data-edge/

Personally, I have never used iTunes at all, just enabled iTunes on my 27-inch iMac and my Mid 2013 13-inch MacBook Air minutes ago. I have yet to really try iTunes radio to give it any kind of proper evaluation. I have never really got into Spotify as I found the consistency of audio quality to be severely lacking.

I have been a Pandora user for many years and a Pandora One users for as long as Pandora One has been available. Since I have numerous Pandora One radio stations that have been trained through the years, I find it hard to make the jump to a new service to have to re-train a new system.

What are your thoughts on all the PAID services? which do you prefer?
 
Last edited:
Spotify then itunes radio then pandora, I dislike pandora with a passion and I find their music selection lacking for EDM.
 
It appears from the Forbes article that that Spotify is not worth paying for if you just want its radio service. Fair enough, iTunes Radio does a decent job and is free. But does anyone really subscribe to Spotify for the radio service? Surely most people subscribe for the ability to play whichever track they want, whenever they want. I'm not convinced that iTunes Radio is really a competitor to Spotify. Now if iTunes offered unlimited playback from the iTunes Store on demand, that would be a different matter!
 
longdogs said:
It appears from the Forbes article that that Spotify is not worth paying for if you just want its radio service. Fair enough, iTunes Radio does a decent job and is free. But does anyone really subscribe to Spotify for the radio service? Surely most people subscribe for the ability to play whichever track they want, whenever they want. I'm not convinced that iTunes Radio is really a competitor to Spotify. Now if iTunes offered unlimited playback from the iTunes Store on demand, that would be a different matter!
Click to expand...

Yeah, they are basically evaluating Pandora One type services, something you can open up and let play without being burdened by selecting songs on demand.
 
My wife loves iTunes Radio better than Pandora, and since we have Match, no commercials. I never got Spotify, because you pay $10 a month for music and all, but what do you have to show for if you dump the service? I like the idea of iTunes Radio and Pandroa because you get exposed to artists that you might like and hear new things. I should use it now that I have it to hear new bands and maybe get into more bands besides Iced Earth, Misfits, Michale Graves, Skillet, Sara Evans, Brad Paisley, and a few others haha.
 
Primejimbo said:
My wife loves iTunes Radio better than Pandora, and since we have Match, no commercials. I never got Spotify, because you pay $10 a month for music and all, but what do you have to show for if you dump the service? I like the idea of iTunes Radio and Pandroa because you get exposed to artists that you might like and hear new things. I should use it now that I have it to hear new bands and maybe get into more bands besides Iced Earth, Misfits, Michale Graves, Skillet, Sara Evans, Brad Paisley, and a few others haha.
Click to expand...

Most people like anything better then Pandora but Pandora One is much better then anything out there thus far.
 
acore said:
Most people like anything better then Pandora but Pandora One is much better then anything out there thus far.
Click to expand...

Maybe it's better, maybe it's not, but why would I pay for something else when I get iTunes Radio included with iTunes Match?
 
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Interesting on-going results, as expected iTunes Radio should be at the top of the list on a Mac-centric forum, Pandora One maintains the second position, respectfully!
 
I don't like the how iTunes Radio chooses songs. Pandora is much better at predicting what song I will like next, and this alone is the killer feature.

I think iTunes Radio uses the same algorithm as the Genius playlist feature introduced several versions ago. It goes off of meta-data only; no deeper analysis of the actual music. If I start a station using an intrumental song, iTunes Radio doesn't get that I want to keep hearing songs with no lyrics; Pandora has no problem understanding this. If I start a station using a song that is very unusual (or out of character) for a particular artist, Pandora understands it's those characteristics I am looking for; whereas iTunes Radio just plays more of that artist and genre.

Basically, Pandora is smarter.
 
oneMadRssn said:
I don't like the how iTunes Radio chooses songs. Pandora is much better at predicting what song I will like next, and this alone is the killer feature.

I think iTunes Radio uses the same algorithm as the Genius playlist feature introduced several versions ago. It goes off of meta-data only; no deeper analysis of the actual music. If I start a station using an intrumental song, iTunes Radio doesn't get that I want to keep hearing songs with no lyrics; Pandora has no problem understanding this. If I start a station using a song that is very unusual (or out of character) for a particular artist, Pandora understands it's those characteristics I am looking for; whereas iTunes Radio just plays more of that artist and genre.

Basically, Pandora is smarter.
Click to expand...
100% agree.
 
Puke

Great poll! It's very successful in demonstrating that folks should never go to Macrumors for unbiased advice about music services. Plus, comments like "iTunes Radio is far and away the best solution for consumers. I don't know anyone who would prefer Spotify or Pandora. :eek:" will warm your soul as an added bonus (and renew your faith in man's ability to be objective).

For those of us that do have that rare proficiency, read dumastudetto's post history and have a few laughs.
 
Agreed: iTunes Radio is not a Spotify Competitor

longdogs said:
It appears from the Forbes article that that Spotify is not worth paying for if you just want its radio service. Fair enough, iTunes Radio does a decent job and is free. But does anyone really subscribe to Spotify for the radio service? Surely most people subscribe for the ability to play whichever track they want, whenever they want. I'm not convinced that iTunes Radio is really a competitor to Spotify. Now if iTunes offered unlimited playback from the iTunes Store on demand, that would be a different matter!
Click to expand...

Personally, I am not that fond of streaming radio services. Limited or no skipping, poor matching, ads... That being said, they do have their place, especially for discovering new music for your collection.

iTunes Radio has good quality music. Noticeably better than Pandora One on my Velodyne vBold headphones. Spotify had richer tones and was more immersive audio than iTunes Radio. Spotify allows you to hear small details that were flat and unremarkable in iTunes Radio. Still, the quality of the iTunes Radio music is impressive for a free service.

I think the paid version of Spotify blows Pandora One away, but that is just me. Better quality music and Spotify has a much larger music collection.

Unless you REALLY care and have good audio gear, it won't likely make that much of a difference.

The biggest take away when it comes to iTunes Radio... version 1 seems to be about audio quality (and they hit a home run for a free service). Like most Apple endeavors, features will come over time. With the investment in music that they have, the other services should be shaking in their boots.
 
SilentLoner said:
Spotify then itunes radio then pandora, I dislike pandora with a passion and I find their music selection lacking for EDM.
Click to expand...

Spotify is by far superior for EDM, it's mind blowing compared to any other paid streaming service out there.
 
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