The Best Online Music-Streaming Services
Business Technology | May 18, 2012
The Internet has changed the way we get our news, watch movies, and pay our bills. It’s little wonder, then, that it has also changed the way we listen to music. Today, the web is home to many top music-streaming services – online services that allow users to listen to their favorite music on their laptops, desktops, and mobile devices.
But which music-streaming services are the best? Here are a few recommendations:
Pandora: Pandora has been around awhile, and it is very widely used. It’s clear to see why: it is simple. After navigating to the website, enter the name of a song or artist you want and Pandora will create a radio station based on that information. It chooses songs by artists with a similar sound. As you tune in to your station you can select the thumbs up or thumbs down symbol on the songs and Pandora will modify your station based on this new information. In addition, you can “seed” you station with different artists to further customize it. You can listen to Pandora without creating an account but in order to save your stations, you have to create an account.
Grooveshark: This streaming service is very similar to Pandora, in that it creates a customized “radio” station based on your musical tastes. There is no need to create an account to listen to Grooveshark, or to create your own playlists. However, if you wish to save your information, you will have to create one. One benefit of Grooveshark is basically that you are able to listen to whole albums instead of a station you made. One of the more interesting features of Grooveshark is that users can add their own music if the Grooveshark database doesn’t have what they are looking for.
Rhapsody: Rhapsody has quickly made a name for itself due to its huge database of more than 14 million songs. Users be required to pay for the service – $10 a month – but by doing so, they’ll be able to stream any song from the service’s huge collection.
Spotify: Spotify is a Swedish music-streaming service that was launched in 2008. It has rapidly grown to one of the most renowned and widely used services out there. People like the flexibility of Spotify. When you search for an artist, you can listen to a whole album or choose to use the radio function and Spotify will find similar artists for you to enjoy. Another advantage of Spotify is that you can create your own playlists and share them with other users if you so choose.
The Internet has changed the way we get our news, watch movies, and pay our bills. It’s little wonder, then, that it has also changed the way we listen to music. Today, the web is home to many top music-streaming services – online services that allow users to listen to their favorite music on their laptops, desktops, and mobile devices.
But which music-streaming services are the best? Here are a few recommendations:
Pandora: Pandora has been around awhile, and it is very widely used. It’s clear to see why: it is simple. After navigating to the website, enter the name of a song or artist you want and Pandora will create a radio station based on that information. It chooses songs by artists with a similar sound. As you tune in to your station you can select the thumbs up or thumbs down symbol on the songs and Pandora will modify your station based on this new information. In addition, you can “seed” you station with different artists to further customize it. You can listen to Pandora without creating an account but in order to save your stations, you have to create an account.
Grooveshark: This streaming service is very similar to Pandora, in that it creates a customized “radio” station based on your musical tastes. There is no need to create an account to listen to Grooveshark, or to create your own playlists. However, if you wish to save your information, you will have to create one. One benefit of Grooveshark is basically that you are able to listen to whole albums instead of a station you made. One of the more interesting features of Grooveshark is that users can add their own music if the Grooveshark database doesn’t have what they are looking for.
Rhapsody: Rhapsody has quickly made a name for itself due to its huge database of more than 14 million songs. Users be required to pay for the service – $10 a month – but by doing so, they’ll be able to stream any song from the service’s huge collection.
Spotify: Spotify is a Swedish music-streaming service that was launched in 2008. It has rapidly grown to one of the most renowned and widely used services out there. People like the flexibility of Spotify. When you search for an artist, you can listen to a whole album or choose to use the radio function and Spotify will find similar artists for you to enjoy. Another advantage of Spotify is that you can create your own playlists and share them with other users if you so choose.