Pandora, Slacker and Such

[Zuljin]

I have Slacker now. Had Pandora for a little while. Haven't used much of either and only the free versions.

What I've noticed though is that ACDC gets a lot of play on both. I'm sure it has a lot to do with my selections. Put in any kind of rock, hard rock, metal or Clutch, and ACDC will come up in short order. A guy at work had Pandora going with selections of clasic rock and hair bands. He got a good bit of ACDC. Black Sabbath too.

I did a search for music this morning for Clutch and a "station" called Clutch Player was in the returns. Well hell yeah. It was slow to load, so I was already on the bike by the time I realized it should have been called, Clutch Playa. Not a bad mix of older, non gangsta, rap, but not what I was expecting.

Anyone use these. Slacker in particular? Any tips and tricks? Stations to share?

I'm going to play with Slacker some here in a bit.

 

[TxBrew]

I get no ACDC with my Pandora, but tons of soft melodic piano music.

 

[Homercidal]

I use Spotify mostly because I can choose songs and albums without having to listen to their "stations" and crappy choices. The only problem is that I have not signed up for the paid account that allows you to do this with your phone.

On my phone I'm trying Slacker, but mostly at work and it cuts out a lot. Might be due to the wireless.

I also have IHeart Radio for a GR station I like (It's called The Brew, and it celebrates Grand Rapids Beer Culture by playing tons of great classic rock!)

Pandora was ok for a while, but I got tired of putting in an artist and after a short while almost ANYTHING would pop in as "related". Uh, no. Hip-hop is really not even close to what I had put in there.

 

[SpentGrains]

No ACDC on Pandora here, I'm usually on the "Hard Rock" radio channel, mostly newer stuff. It's that, or I'm blasting the Disney sound track channel like a boss. :rockin:

 

[Zuljin]

Huh. Maybe the internet thinks I really like ACDC. It's not that I dislike them. It's just I can't get away from them.

So I made a Slacker station and in like three songs it was playing bands I didn't select.

And yeah, I had some seemingly random songs with Pandora. I guess their logic says if you select a band with a name, then you must like bands with names, so here's a band with a name.

 

[Beernik]

My wife listens to Pandora a lot. It seems to me to be lot like anthem rock stations. You get the same 50ish songs on an endless loop. I'd rather stick with the 1200 songs on my phone. Sure, I've still heard them all before, but I'm getting wider variety.

Apple is supposed to release a Pandora like player as part of iTunes when they release a new update to it this fall.

 

[passedpawn]

Pandora here. I have no complaints. I pay for it, don't know if that makes a diff. I listen to it all day, while running, biking, etc.

Metallica station is cool. In the Pandora|One app, you can select a station and click "Add Variety" then add another band or track to add variety to the selections. Do this a few times and it will greatly increase the music you hear.

 

[Vespa]

I use Spotify now mostly. I was a big Slacker user before that. Spotify is very repetitious and not as good at determining the songs I may like by genre as Slacker was. The client however is nice, works on Linux and lets me access my local music files as well as share lists with my daughter through Facebook. I'm hoping their song choice algorithm will catch up to Slacker or Pandora.

 

[DrunkleJon]

I use Grooveshark from my computer (make your own playlist from anything they have in whatever order you want, not as good when used as an app). Frat Music is good for the phone.

 

[AnOldUR]

Pandora here. I have no complaints. . . .Metallica station is cool.

Pandora and the Pandora One app also. Only compliant is that Mitallica as part of my mix attracts every bit of head bang'in crap out there.

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

Pandora is okay with me I don't do the hard rock so all I get is the good stuff....... Bluegrass

 

[Zuljin]

Slacker does let you ban songs and artists. Good. No more System of a Down.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

I haven't used SLacker in years, I found a few years ago Pandora was much better, haven't used Pandora too much lately opting for spotify instead and rarely listening to music on my phone.

 

[TheNoodlerHank]

I get a lot of 80's on my Amon Amarth channel. I just pisses me off about it.