Spotify

Launched in 2008, Spotify’s popularity across the world is largely credited to it’s easy to use navigation and wide variety of music and artists to listen to.

Spotify contains several features that make it unique compared to other music streaming competitors, specifically Pandora.

One of these features is allowing users to save playlists, music stations, albums and more when using its free service. Users can listen to their saved audio as long as they are connected to an internet source.

Another helpful feature of Spotify is the list of recommended songs at the end of created playlists. This helps the user explore new music, as well as find music they might’ve heard before.

Using Spotify Premium, which costs $9.99 a month for an individual, users no longer face the limits seen using the free service. Music is no longer interrupted by advertisements, skips are not restricted to a specific number in an interval of time, and users have the option to upgrade the sound quality of their music.

Free of charge or not, Spotify is an excellent on-demand streaming source for finding all of your favorite music in one application.

Pandora

Founded in Oakland, California in 2000, Pandora Internet Radio has many features that still make it one of the most used music streaming services to date.

Pandora is an outstanding music service that uses algorithms to allow users to look up an artist, music genre and listen to a radio station filled with similar tunes. This feature allows others to discover new artists they might enjoy and is definitely useful for expanding music taste.

To help with expanding music discovery, Pandora’s “thumbs-up” button essentially allows users to choose their favorite songs and allows Pandora to base future upcoming songs on those that are similar. With Pandora’s new Pandora Premium service that is releasing in the upcoming weeks, users can listen to all of their favorite “thumbs-upped” tunes in a playlist conveniently already made for them.

Like Spotify, the free version of Pandora has its limits. Users cannot surpass a number of skipped songs in a certain number of time unless they pay for the $9.99 monthly subscription.

Pandora Premium has many new features that mirror those of Spotify, including more fluidity in choosing what users want to listen to instead of being limited to just using the radio.

For those who prefer their music being chosen for them, Pandora works perfectly. For those who enjoy Pandora’s radio and the flexibility of Spotify, Pandora Premium could suit them as well.