- Get link
- Other Apps
Some of my oldest readers (in terms of years reading my blog, not mathematical age) might remember a series of posts that I used to do when I blogged over The Sporting News called "Websites You Should Know About". Unfortunately, I can't link to any of my old Sporting News stuff because the site went defunct (in a steaming pile of poo-throwing between members and staff) and while it's been resurrected under some new name, it's definitely not the place that I used to love. Anyhow, that's NOT a website you ought to know about - but the following sites are!
In the spirit of review week, I'll post the sites and offer up a small review for each one.
Today's theme: Music.
These are some of the best (and free) music sites that I am aware of on the web. Any other additions that you may know of would be welcome, let me know in the comments below!
Pandora.com
I wrote about Pandora.com in my first (and only) Websites You Ought to Know About issue on my current blog. Pandora is great for a variety of reasons. First, they have pretty much any band, song, and genre that you could imagine. Second, after a couple of hours of active listening (meaning thumbing up songs you like and thumbing down songs you don't), you can end up with a personalized music channel that will reliably play new music you like plus plenty of songs you've already marked as good. Furthermore, Pandora is great for people like me - as I have some rather eclectic tastes in music... For example, I have O.A.R., K'naan, Mumford & Sons, and Enter the Haggis as artist seeds on a single radio station...and I'm constantly learning about new groups and songs thanks to that particular combination of artists. The only downside to Pandora is that it times out after four hours (or so), plus there are some audio ads that play between songs (not always, but enough that I notice them sometimes). Even so, it's a great free music website (and, if you are so inclined, you can pay Pandora in order to be ad-free).
Bottom Line: Pandora gets a 95/100
AOL Full CD Listening Party:
This is a relatively new bookmark for me - but it's one that I find myself returning to each week. Basically, the site allows you to listen to a selection of CDs, in their entirety, each week. The available CDs switch each week (and are all new releases). Since I've started using the site, the selection of CDs each week has definitely been hit and miss. Some weeks there are five or six CDs that I like a lot, other weeks there hasn't been a single CD that I deemed worth listening to. In the end though, I have found some new artists (and really, that's the goal of the site), so I'd say the site is a success. Of course, if you find a CD you like, you better listen to it as much as you can during the week because next week it'll be gone for good. If you catch the CD at the right time, it's a great way to hear other songs off of an album (and more than just the 30 seconds that most websites allow you to hear).
Bottom line: 85/100
Accuradio.com
One of the downsides of Pandora that I didn't mention is that you only get 40 hours of free listening a month. For most people, I'm sure that's not an issue that will ever arise, but if you happen to use the site while at work (like I do), 40 hours isn't that difficult to hit in a month. Anyhow, one month I hit the 40 hour mark on Pandora by mid-month and was sort of desperate to find some other music site that I could use while at work. Enter: Accuradio.com. Accuradio is a lot like Sirius XM-lite for the PC. It's free and it has a bunch of pre-programmed channels. Oh sure, there's some level of supposed customization available, but it pales woefully when compared to Pandora. I wouldn't recommend the site to anyone over Pandora, but if you happen to hit your listening threshold for the month (or if you just want to listen to current hits in your favorite genre), then Accuradio might be the site for you!
Bottom line: 75/100
That's three (free) music sites for you to know about (plus the obligatory reviews). Do you have other sites that you'd like me to check out (or think others might be interested in)? Let me know in the comments below.
Note, I didn't consider sites that were mostly for sales (such as Amazon.com) nor did I consider last.fm (because frankly, last.fm kind of sucks these days).
In the spirit of review week, I'll post the sites and offer up a small review for each one.
Today's theme: Music.
These are some of the best (and free) music sites that I am aware of on the web. Any other additions that you may know of would be welcome, let me know in the comments below!
Pandora.com
I wrote about Pandora.com in my first (and only) Websites You Ought to Know About issue on my current blog. Pandora is great for a variety of reasons. First, they have pretty much any band, song, and genre that you could imagine. Second, after a couple of hours of active listening (meaning thumbing up songs you like and thumbing down songs you don't), you can end up with a personalized music channel that will reliably play new music you like plus plenty of songs you've already marked as good. Furthermore, Pandora is great for people like me - as I have some rather eclectic tastes in music... For example, I have O.A.R., K'naan, Mumford & Sons, and Enter the Haggis as artist seeds on a single radio station...and I'm constantly learning about new groups and songs thanks to that particular combination of artists. The only downside to Pandora is that it times out after four hours (or so), plus there are some audio ads that play between songs (not always, but enough that I notice them sometimes). Even so, it's a great free music website (and, if you are so inclined, you can pay Pandora in order to be ad-free).Bottom Line: Pandora gets a 95/100
AOL Full CD Listening Party:
This is a relatively new bookmark for me - but it's one that I find myself returning to each week. Basically, the site allows you to listen to a selection of CDs, in their entirety, each week. The available CDs switch each week (and are all new releases). Since I've started using the site, the selection of CDs each week has definitely been hit and miss. Some weeks there are five or six CDs that I like a lot, other weeks there hasn't been a single CD that I deemed worth listening to. In the end though, I have found some new artists (and really, that's the goal of the site), so I'd say the site is a success. Of course, if you find a CD you like, you better listen to it as much as you can during the week because next week it'll be gone for good. If you catch the CD at the right time, it's a great way to hear other songs off of an album (and more than just the 30 seconds that most websites allow you to hear).
Bottom line: 85/100
Accuradio.com
One of the downsides of Pandora that I didn't mention is that you only get 40 hours of free listening a month. For most people, I'm sure that's not an issue that will ever arise, but if you happen to use the site while at work (like I do), 40 hours isn't that difficult to hit in a month. Anyhow, one month I hit the 40 hour mark on Pandora by mid-month and was sort of desperate to find some other music site that I could use while at work. Enter: Accuradio.com. Accuradio is a lot like Sirius XM-lite for the PC. It's free and it has a bunch of pre-programmed channels. Oh sure, there's some level of supposed customization available, but it pales woefully when compared to Pandora. I wouldn't recommend the site to anyone over Pandora, but if you happen to hit your listening threshold for the month (or if you just want to listen to current hits in your favorite genre), then Accuradio might be the site for you!
Bottom line: 75/100
That's three (free) music sites for you to know about (plus the obligatory reviews). Do you have other sites that you'd like me to check out (or think others might be interested in)? Let me know in the comments below.
Note, I didn't consider sites that were mostly for sales (such as Amazon.com) nor did I consider last.fm (because frankly, last.fm kind of sucks these days).
Although I prefer Pandora over anything else, you should check out Grooveshark as well. It has pretty much any song you could think of and the ability to create playlists.
ReplyDeleteI've used Pandora in the past, and I'm surprised I never hit the 40-hour mark. I suppose it's because I'd listen to it for a long period of time one day, and not return for weeks or even a couple months.
ReplyDeleteI like iHeartRadio, which is an app on my iPod (though I suppose they might have a website). It lets me choose the genre and a whole long list of radio stations to stream, including stations I used to listen to in Atlanta. Since you're streaming actual radio stations, you're stuck with their programming and ads, but it's good when you can't find anything worth listening to locally.
I think it's also important to note SoundHound (again, an app), that helps you identify songs. It doesn't work 100% of the time, but it's come in handy on multiple occasions. I'm told you can sing or hum part of the song, but I've never tried.
I highly recommend Spotify. Similar to Pandora but you can choose what songs/albums you want to play.
ReplyDeleteLove Pandora, and sometimes use Live365, but have to mention StreamingSoundtracks. It has a HUGE soundtrack collection, a world wide audience, and you can even add your own picks to the queue (more often if you pay up and become a VIP). Great background listening during work, too.
ReplyDeleteI listened to Pandora so much that I hit the 40-hour mark every month.
ReplyDeleteI've cut back on it quite a bit lately, partly because the ads have gotten a little annoying.
Last.fm is a pretty decent option as well, although it's only free if you live in the US, UK, or Germany.
ReplyDeleteYou can check it out here.