Pandora (Free. iOS, Android, Amazon, Windows) The biggest name in streaming radio it has thousands of channels based on artists and genres. Channels are based on genre or artist all using what they term the “music DNA project” they uses like and dislike buttons to help customize the music users hear to their individual tastes. The only talk channels are comedy. Allows users to create 100 channels and is available on virtually everything from car radios, set-top boxes, stereo equipment, dvd / bluray players, gaming consoles, and stand alone radios. Ads can be repetitive and play more often on popular music channels than say classical music. For $4.99 a month remove all ads, eliminate pauses, and get unlimited skips. The user interface is utilitarian and the graphics are good not great.
Songza (Free. iOS, Android, and Windows) Radio stations that are by genre, activity, decade, or mood based. No audio ads, nice user interface. The playlists do not give allow users to specify specific artists.
Rdio (Free. iOS, Android, and Windows) Boasting a library of more than 20 million tracks and unlimited streaming users can listen to stations by genre, decade, create a playlist, or choose a list created by a musical artist. They have $3.99 mo. and $9.99 mo. subscriptions that allow for downloading, searching for specific songs, and no advertising.
Google Play Music (Free. iOS and Android) Users can purchase music from Google or listen to streaming radio channels. Music purchases can be used to create personalized playlists. The app has a clean minimal interface that is easy to use.
Spotify (Free or $10 monthly. iOS, Android, Amazon, Windows) The desktop version of Spotify allows users to select almost any song by any artist but with the Spotify app users can only listen to streaming radio stations for free. By paying $10 a month users are ad-free, can listen to any individual songs they like, they can download music for offline listening, and they can access their playlist on any device. The user interface can take a little learning but that is because there are so many features. Spotify is also available on a wide variety of electronics, similar to Pandora. A recent article stated additional new features are coming: multiple running modes, adding video, and users will be able to select music played at their local Starbucks. http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/20/spotify-for-runners/?ncid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29#.gn3ejv:Zrwd
TuneIn (Free or $9.99 Pro. iOS, Android, Amazon, Windows, Nook) – Over 100,000 radio stations in 230 countries and 4 million podcasts. Users have a wide variety of choices including talk radio, college stations, police and fire station radio feeds. The Pro version eliminates banner ads and gives users the ability to record what they are listening to. The user interface is spare and not very appealing visually.
iHeartRadio (Free. iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry, Amazon) This radio app has a large selection of the biggest and most well-known radio stations across the United States. Streaming channels based on genre, activity, and artists are available as well. It doesn’t have the selection of radio stations that is available on TuneIn but it is has a superior user interface: more color, better graphics, and bigger buttons.
Slacker Radio (Free. iOS, Android) 100’s of hand crafted stations that include genre and activity. Talk stations include: news, sports, weather from ABC, ESPN, American Public Media and The Weather Channel. The app has a gorgeous user interface, nice graphics, and shows how many songs you can skip. Utilizing both a human constructed playlist and algorithm that takes your preferences in mind it creates the best of both worlds. On the hand crafted stations there is a DJ that makes quick banter every couple of songs, I thought it would be annoying but was mostly enjoyable. For $3.99 a month you can have unlimited skipping, eliminate ads, and download songs for offline listening.
RadiON Free (Free. iOS and Android) The idea behind this app is classic radio in a modern app. The app provides FM and AM channels from around the world with a clean radio looking interface. Users can see what is playing on each channel in real-time; the "scrap" feature allows you to record Title/Singer/Radio Channel/Dates information for later use; an alarm feature allows users to wake up to the radio station of their choice (shake your device to turn it off).
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