When it comes to streaming music, Pandora just works.
It appears Apple may be unveiling a “Pandora killer” music product in the near future. I, personally am unfazed. I enjoy Apple products, and I’m a loyal and satisfied Pandora customer. I’ve tried Spotify, Rhapsody, Last.fm, Rdio, 8Tracks… and while they all have their advantages, none to me match the basic, straightforward appeal of good ol’ Pandora.
Here’s a quote from a recent Business Insider article on what Apple may have in the works:
We’ve dubbed it iRadio and from what we’ve heard so far, it sounds like it will be very similar to Pandora. For instance, Apple plans to offer it as a free service, supported by ads, and it will let users create their own radio stations based on a favorite song or artist,
Pandora Passé? Meh.
I realize some may consider Pandora passé, but for me it just works, whether on a computer or mobile. I’m glad there are other trending options these days because competition is what drives free market growth, but I was an early adopter of Pandora and am religious about thumbs-upping or -downing tracks to get my stations the way I like them. And if I want to buy a song through iTunes (or Amazon), the link is always right there with the track.
Why on Earth would I put the effort into rebuilding the experience through iTunes or whatever Apple calls it? I also like sharing my tracks with comments on Twitter or Pinterest, and running an rss of what I’ve liked at my blog – I seriously doubt Apple’s “walled garden” would allow such flexibility. But hey, I’d love to be proven wrong.
One thing I dig about @Pandora_radio is sharing tracks on Twitter like this jam by @theblackkeys. http://t.co/6pqym7ir8R #pandora
— Richard Smith (@rsmithing) June 5, 2013
Oh, and does anyone miss Ping? Didn’t think so.
What do you think? Would you be interested in a streaming music product from Apple? Are you a user of Pandora or any other streaming products? What do you like about them and why? Let us hear from you in the comments.
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- RUMORS: Three Features Apple’s Rumored Streaming Music Service Probably Wouldn’t Support (forums.pinstack.com)
- Apple Hasn’t Killed Pandora Yet (fool.com)
- Apple iRadio Launch Rumor Spooks Pandora Shareholders (hothardware.com)