DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Music Streaming Service

Hey all... I need a music streaming service. I tried Amazon's Music Unlimited and was not impressed.

What do you guys use? Google Play and Spotify seem to be the industry leaders and etc. Leaning towards Google Play because the people I've talked to like the service, and YouTube Red comes with the subscription fee.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Spotify has been pretty good for me. Very little issues.

I've only used Google play and I like it. The YouTube red is a great feature. It's nice putting my phone on lock and still heading whatever YouTube video I'm listening to.

I like Pandora.

I use SoundCloud a lot.

Never heard of this one. Can you tell me what you like/dislike about it? Average quality of the songs? 320kpbs hopefully?

I actually don’t know the technicals. What I know is it’s filled with some of the kind of music I listen to. It’s where I go to get live sets and other tracks from some of the DJs and producers I dig. The sound quality is great. Sounds great through my audio system.
I honestly haven’t tried listening to other types of music there. Rock or such.
It’s free though. Can’t hurt to give it a try.

Here’s one of my favorite sets. The Funk Hunters...
https://soundcloud.com/thefunkhunters/the-funk-hunters-2016-shambhala-mix

I use Pandora. You can get it for free w/limited commercials.

I pay $4.99 a month and there are zero commercials. It's well worth it for me because I seriously listen to music pretty much all day long. When I'm doing my art, I have the earbuds in. Making dinner, I have the Bose playing. Yard work is time for the earbuds again. I typically listen to YouTube songs while I am playing on here at night, so I don't use Pandora very often at night unless I'm trying to finish a project.

They key is actively thumbing. Both up and down. For example, I was listening to one of my stations today that is entitled "Led Zeppelin Radio." Here are the 5 songs that played right in a row. I remember them because I was thinking how cool that was:

Pink Floyd: Live version of Shine on You Crazy Diamond.

Frank Sinatra: The Best is Yet to Come

Amy Winehouse: Back to Black

Red Hot Chili Peppers: Californication

Buddy Guy: What Kind of Woman is This

That's fairly eclectic. I'm not suggesting those are songs you would like. I'm saying that if you actively use the thumbs, Pandora can identify which songs you like and don't like no matter that genre.

I like Youtube Red also. The offline playlist feature works well for my lunchtime walks in the tunnel at work. They have Verizon extenders installed and the 4G is still spotty.

I'd love to get commercial free stuff ... can't quite afford it I don't think (or listen to music enough)

My main drive for this is I was given a bluetooth headset for my riding helmet, and this will enable me to download an app on my phone and play it wireless to my helmet setup that has speakers and etc.

$10 bucks a month though it seems for the various services, hence why I'm gathering as much opinion as I can.

S4.99 a month isn't bad, bro.

I would like to add that I rarely have to thumb now. They got my tastes down. You just gotta do it hard at first.

I have a few main stations:

Led Zeppelin Radio

Beth Hart and Joe B radio

Miles Davis radio

Smooth Jazz station

Sax Radio

But truthfully, I have hit the thumbs so hard that I get everything I want on the LZ station, other than the smooth jazz and sax stuff.

Not really looking for random music via a station. I'd like to build personal playlist and etc (for riding, when I'm lifting and etc etc.) I used their free service for quite awhile and still do here and there when I'm looking for new artist and etc to listen to.

For 9.99, Pandora offers on-demand listening, but I think at that price some of the other services are superior and more widely used/supported. Greatly appreciate your (and everyone who has chimed in) feedback.

I hear you and I used to do the same thing. Still do at times.

I will say this to all: I've discovered some marvelous artists that I had never listened to on the Pandora I was describing. I would have never have heard them if I just selected my own songs.

Their recommendation/suggestion logic on their website/app is excellent. A lot (and I mean most) of the newer metal I listen to and love right now is because I got them from there. I think that's why I still deal with the ads and etc with the free service lol.

I don't think I ever would've been introduced to them otherwise.

Good thread, bro.

I use Spotify and love it, used to use Pandora before they had on-demand. Spotify has a "radio" option you can make from an artist and it plays music that is similar, however, I do not feel it is nearly as good as Pandora in that aspect.

With Pandora you can have up to 5 other users for the same price as well. My son, fiance, mom and dad all use it from my account.

I've only ever used Pandora. I used to have a paid account, but these days I'm content with the free one. The commercials don't bother me, at all.


However, if you like the Oldies, look no further than http://tunein.com/radio/NorthCoastsGreatestHitscom-s297651/

iHeartRadio: Listen to Free Radio Stations & Music Online | iHeartRadio
https://www.iheart.com/

You can listen to live radio stations, or create your own playlists. (though that costs extra, and I don't know how much)

I just turn on my radio.

Sure if you don’t mind 35-40 minutes of commercials every hour with maybe two songs you might like mixed in with 4 others that suck. That then repeat every 3rd hour.
Terrestrial radio is dead. It’s outdated.

There literally is no good rock/metal stations anymore.

Shade 45?

Coming Soon™

There was a great station out of Cleveland, that used to hang out at 107.9. Man, I put that station on every day on my drive from YTown to Kent, just as soon as I could pick its signal up.

Then, one day, I turned it on, and REM's "It's the end of the world as we know it" was playing. I like the song, so it was cool. Then they played it again, and again, and again .......

The next day they turned into a rap station. That was probably 10-15 years ago, and I still haven't found a station I liked as well since. There are stations that play a lot of classic rock, but few that play much from this century.

107.9 was by far the best rock station before they switch genres. When I worked at the shop many years ago, they were always on. Use to call in and request songs all the time, generally Metallica songs lol.

Here in Cleveland and around Ravenna area, there isn't a point to have the radio on unless it's talk radio or non-metal/rock music.

100.7 is probably the best, and it sucks IMO.

Support artists...buy physical music. It sounds better too. Most new records also come with d/l codes to get them onto your portable devices.

Great station - sad to see it go the way it did.

Had heard of a documentary coming out years ago and this post reminded me... can't find the doc, but I found the trailer.

I've been using spotify for ages. Great service overall - and getting more and more artists every tday. Not owning the music is ok with me...I have 11000+ songs in iTunes I rarely listen to.

Same here. I enjoy creating playlists, downloading them and then surfing around for other playlists that suit my mood (and then downloading them if I like them). It's all so convenient.

Spotify all the way, I haven't tried google but I'm impressed that I've been able to find just about everything I've searched for in Spotify's database.

I would even go as far as saying the premium service is worth it if you use it enough. Personally I don't since I'm more of a Sports talk listner when I'm at work.

I stream Napster it comes free with my phone service. Works great. I still buy vinyl so that dates me.

While I have my subscription to Pandora, when I buy albums, I’m buying them on vinyl.

I would, but they keep skipping when I'm driving down the road .....

I have 12 preset stations in my car. I am not to lazy to push a button and change the channel.

I do however pay $3.99 per month for Amazon Music Unlimited at home and just tell Alexa what I want to hear.

Thanks for the link, Purp. I am a fan of oldies, and I just tried this.

Remarkable sound quality. Just amazingly sharp!

I see it's free for 30 days. Thanx again!

I went premium in January when they had the "$1 for 3 months and then $9 every month after" deal. I figure over 2018, it averages out low enough to justify it. I don't like their commercials and I enjoy downloading all the music I want to listen on the go (and not using my streaming data).

If I stream, I'll use pandora. I mostly still use my ipod

1. Play what I want
2. No commercials
3. No monthly fees

I mostly listen to music in the car, and there are dead spots in the mountains that make streaming services unreliable. Don't care for satellite radio either.

If you specifically want to listen to something, definitely spotify. They have most everything. Great for new and up and coming artists..

Pandora is great, although it's customized to your tastes, so you don't necessarily get to choose what you listen to, it's an awesome way to discover new music though.

Slacker works exactly the same. It also has good comedy channels.

I have actually discovered some of my favorite artists because of that.

Many of you have read my posts about Beth Hart, Joe B, Melody Gardot, Alvin Lee, etc. I had heard of most of them, but never listened to them.

Damn! Thank God for Pandora!