Which music streaming service offers the best sound and most artists?

geowak · « **on:** 27 Mar 2013, 12:14 pm »

There are now, more than ever, music streaming services available. Websites such as Spotify, MOG, Rdio, Pandora, SiriusXM, dhingana, Rhapsody, Slacker radio, Deezer, Songza, AOL radio, Grooveshark, Jango, Last.Fm, etc. are here. I know Nokia and Youtube will offer this service in 2013.

Which ones offer:

1. The most artists and music.(One can always find the artist and music wanted)
2. The best quality streaming. (Streams without a problem and sounds great)
3. The best features and apps. (Easy to use GUI and navigation)

lokie · « **Reply #1 on:** 27 Mar 2013, 01:01 pm »

If I had to plunk down my hard earned money for a monthly service, I think I would choose MOG.

Devil Doc · « **Reply #2 on:** 27 Mar 2013, 01:16 pm »

I only have paid subscription experience with two of the mentioned, MOG and Pandora. MOG is infinitely superior to Pandora and is worth the $4.99 Monthly fee.

Doc

sharpsuxx · « **Reply #3 on:** 27 Mar 2013, 03:51 pm »

I would have to say spotify.

1. Most artists by far as far as my tastes in music which are quite varied.
2. 320 kbps with premium account.
3. far better user interface than MOG or Pandora. Not to mention much wider support for smartphone applications and hardware applications. The SB app is fairly good.

To each their own, i think all of them have a free premium trial though, give em a whirl. Spotify looks to be the most built for the long haul as well.

skunark · « **Reply #4 on:** 27 Mar 2013, 05:06 pm »

My vote is also for spotify, but with no contract, do what I did and pick one for a month and then try it, next month try another.

I've tried the following:
pandora: hated the fact that I've paid for a month, but yet I only have so many skips.
rdio: hated the fact that you either had a collection of artist or a pre-canned station, you weren't able to build a playlist from a favorite song. Essentially no way to discover new music unless its one of their pre-canned stations.
spotify: so far so good, even unofficial support for hackers and the linux community with de-spotify and premium membership. You can skip as many songs as you like, build a playlist from one song.

I haven't tried MOG yet, it was next on my list but Spotify is doing exactly what I want: 1) find new music based on songs I like 2) ad-free environment 3) unlimited skips 4) highest quality. I believe they all can provide 320kbps with the premium accounts.

Jim

cujobob · « **Reply #5 on:** 27 Mar 2013, 07:54 pm »

I've been playing with spotify and I have to admit its really good. Ten dollars per month for premium is a bit much for me (given that I only use for portable use occasionally), but if you use at home would be worthwhile. It has a lot of stuff on there Pandora doesn't and the iPhone app is good looking, responsive and easy to use. I like Pandora for certain things like comedy channels and things like that but for music I believe spotify is much better.

mtruong34 · « **Reply #6 on:** 27 Mar 2013, 08:34 pm »

I've tried Pandora, MOG and Spotify, all with premium services. My thoughts on each.

Pandora - poorest SQ but the new music engine is the best I've seen
MOG - excellent SQ and library. Had to cancel because my workplace blocks.
Spotify - SQ and library is on par with MOG. The new music (radio) engine is not very good. It keeps playing the same artists and songs over and over again. I've never really discovered new artists or songs using Spotify's radio. However, Spotify has a really nice international music library.

randytsuch · « **Reply #7 on:** 27 Mar 2013, 10:40 pm »

I voted with my wallet for Mog

$5 a month, sounds pretty good, and the music selection is good.

I think it sounds better than the free spotify, I didn't try premium spotify.

Randy

SlushPuppy · « **Reply #8 on:** 27 Mar 2013, 11:37 pm »

I have MOG and Pandora. MOG for full albums, Pandora for my "radio" and background music. MOG definitely sound better on my system.

dB Cooper · « **Reply #9 on:** 30 Mar 2013, 04:12 am »

Most of my listening is jazz, some blues, a dab of classical. I subscribe to jazz radio dot com which is 256k mp3. For classical, mainly BBC3 which is 320k AAC.

jazzradio is $5 a month. There are like fourteen channels. If spotify is $10 I might be too much of an audio cheapskate. Then again the 320k might reel me in.

Anybody mainly a jazz listener with that particular POV re these services?

Spotify's website provides no information about the quality improvement, but I am happy with what I am using, so...

JEaton · « **Reply #10 on:** 30 Mar 2013, 04:51 am »

Quote from: SlushPuppy on 27 Mar 2013, 11:37 pm

I have MOG and Pandora. MOG for full albums, Pandora for my "radio" and background music. MOG definitely sound better on my system.

I find the MOG artist-like radio mixes to be pretty good. Haven't felt much need to use Pandora lately.

SlushPuppy · « **Reply #11 on:** 30 Mar 2013, 05:17 am »

Quote from: JEaton on 30 Mar 2013, 04:51 am

I find the MOG artist-like radio mixes to be pretty good. Haven't felt much need to use Pandora lately.

I haven't listened to the MOG radio mixes yet. I'll try them out on my next break in a couple of days. I have two Pandora stations that I've been tweaking for nearly 7 years. They practically read my mind/mood when it comes to randomly played music. MOG seems to be pretty aggressive, so I'm hoping for similar results.

buyersremorse · « **Reply #12 on:** 31 Mar 2013, 09:38 pm »

I've been a MOG subscriber for a couple months and like it a lot. Spotify would be runner-up.
I have both the MOG and Pandora iPhone apps for Squeezebox and they work well most of the time.
MOG sounds significantly better to me than does Pandora.

django11 · « **Reply #13 on:** 1 Apr 2013, 01:01 am »

Quote from: dB Cooper on 30 Mar 2013, 04:12 am

Most of my listening is jazz, some blues, a dab of classical. I subscribe to jazz radio dot com which is 256k mp3. For classical, mainly BBC3 which is 320k AAC.

jazzradio is $5 a month. There are like fourteen channels. If spotify is $10 I might be too much of an audio cheapskate. Then again the 320k might reel me in.

Anybody mainly a jazz listener with that particular POV re these services?

Spotify's website provides no information about the quality improvement, but I am happy with what I am using, so...

This free site might be of interest: http://www.espace.mu/jazz It is part of the CBC .Not sure of the bit rate and the website is in French but still pretty simple to figure out. They offer different genres of music.

fado · « **Reply #14 on:** 1 Apr 2013, 01:03 am »

I play Pandora through my Squeezebox Touch. Will MOG play through the Squeezebox Touch as well?

WC · « **Reply #15 on:** 1 Apr 2013, 02:00 am »

Quote from: fado on 1 Apr 2013, 01:03 am

I play Pandora through my Squeezebox Touch. Will MOG play through the Squeezebox Touch as well?

Yes.

carusoracer · « **Reply #16 on:** 1 Apr 2013, 03:45 pm »

I have been really happy with Pandora, and I too have been tweaking my stations for years.

I can't compare the sound quality to others as I stream thru my iPure I-20 with custom power supply with Borneo wood tuning blocs underneath. I really sounds pretty darn good.

I will have to try some of the others to play around with. I like a big variety and search engine.

neekomax · « **Reply #17 on:** 1 Apr 2013, 04:17 pm »

I quite dig Spotify premium. As a matter of fact, I consider that $10 a month the best audio money I spend. Here are my likes, followed by a couple of drawbacks I've noticed:

1. Really incredibly diverse catalog. You can get deep into Brazillian stuff, Japanese, obscure British shit that wasn't on MOG when I checked.

2. Both the desktop & the mobile apps are great, IMO. I like that it's not happening in my browser, but in its own dedicated application, for some reason. The mobile app rules, I stream it via bluetooth to my car stereo... heaven.

3. Sounds good in both mobile & desktop versions, especially in my main rig (obs

). I still like redbook audio and am getting into hi rez as of a couple of days ago, but the sound is quite good considering iTunes downloads are 256 Kbps, and Spotify premium is 320 Kbps (my ears agree).

4. The social aspect (FB integration) is great. I follow some of my FB friends, and some follow me (also follow artists so I get alerts when they release new stuff). Basically you get an interactive 'newsfeed' of what the people you follow are listening to (that you can hide), and I get into tons of stuff that way.

5. The apps within the desktop app are reallty good for finding new music, as well. My favorite is the KCRW Music Mine, which is an ever evolving collage of stuff the good folks over there are digging at the moment - lots of genres, stuff new & old. Hit play on that, and you're off to discovery world.

6. 'Starred' playlist. Anytime I like a track anywhere in Spotify, I 'Star' it with a click, and it gets added to the 'Starred' playlist, which lives in both desktop & mobile apps, and is essentially a 'greatest hits' radio that I am constantly adding to. Shuffle play that playlist and voila!

Ok, now for the bad:

1. Can't organize playlists alphabetically (although you can do it manually via drag n' drop).
2. I wish they would be more transparent about bitrates.
3. That's about it, actually.

*Disclaimer: no affilitaion with Spotify, just a big fan.

Here's a screenshot with KCRW Music Mine app up. On the right is the social newsfeed, on the left, playlists:

sharpsuxx · « **Reply #18 on:** 1 Apr 2013, 04:37 pm »

I whole heartedly agree with all of the above. Also I have to admit, for the free services/radiostations, Pandora is my favorite it is the way next gen free radio should be. I have a few stations I have been tweaking for years and they recomend nothing but great artists and practically read my mind while I am at work.

mtruong34 · « **Reply #19 on:** 1 Apr 2013, 04:51 pm »

IMO, Spotify's Facebook integration is a minus. Only way you can sign up is via FB. So they force you to register for FB to use their service, which I'm staunchly against.