[grsimmon]

Pandora has different "rules" and sound quality based on how & where you listen,  so it's not accurate to make any blanket statements.  I have a Marantz NA7004 network streaming box as part of my home stereo.   I just recently started using Pandora and registered for a free account through the Marantz (had to enter the unit code etc).    So far I've had it on for 4-6 hours per day,  have not heard a single commercial or interruption,  and sound quality is totally acceptable IMO for casual listening - I think 126 kbps (?).    It's definitely not at the lower bit rate, it's free, and the website is easy to use.  Love it.     

[Bob2]

None of the systems I've talked about here are audiophile high quality anyway

Bob, audiophile quality isn't needed for the places I use Pandora so that's a good thing.
Sometimes I use it for music on the patio at home.
I usually have it running in our machine shop.  Gives our students some background noise..
About every 2 hrs it stops and wants to know if I'm still listening.

Although I have found new music on Pandora as others have said they do have a limited playlist.
My subscription is due to run out soon so I won't renew. Time to try something else!
Thanks!

[Bob in St. Louis]

I agrees Bob, I'm right there with ya. 
As far as the subscription goes, they're about to raise their rates. Existing members don't get hit as hard as new members, so if you've got a membership, think twice about letting it expire. If you've been on the fence about getting it, nows the time.

Bob

[mick wolfe]

I use Pandora One almost daily. No complaints other than the " are you still listening"  message which forces me to restart the program. This is more the fault of ancient re-built laptop than Pandora as my new laptop doesn't force a restart. Sound quality is quite good for casual listening and especially good on some of the jazz selections. Try Art Pepper for one. A very good bang for the buck IMHO. Just load up a ton of stations in your queue to achieve variety as there's a lot of overlapping playlists from similar artists.

[BoJonJovi]

I was an early adopter of Pandora. I loved it then and still love it. I also subscribe to Pandora. I use Pandora to discover new music and Rhapsody to hone in on artists.
However, last night my son went on and on about how much he likes Spotify and it sounded to me like I might get the best of both worlds by switching to Spotify. So i tried Spotify last night and put in Santana as a radio station, it played a Santana song then started playing hip hop. I will have to use Spotify more to decide by my first encounter was not impressive but I also admit I have not given it a chance at all.

[low.pfile]

I was an early adopter of Pandora. I loved it then and still love it. I also subscribe to Pandora. I use Pandora to discover new music and Rhapsody to hone in on artists.
However, last night my son went on and on about how much he likes Spotify and it sounded to me like I might get the best of both worlds by switching to Spotify. So i tried Spotify last night and put in Santana as a radio station, it played a Santana song then started playing hip hop. I will have to use Spotify more to decide by my first encounter was not impressive but I also admit I have not given it a chance at all.

Hey BoJonJovi,  I use both Spotify and Pandora, currently pay for Spotify, because of the ability to play full albums and make playlists. I used to pay for Pandora only, but now only use their free subscription. I have had good experiences with both. Though not without some oddball tracks showing up....Each use their own sorting algorithms, and both have mis-cataloged music, both by band name and by genre. maybe your experience with that inharmonious song was due to one of those two issues? I do like the station mixes from Pandora just a little better than Spotify, but I listen to a lot of new indie, alternative, alt-folk, electronica, soul, and R&B and hardly ever listen to classic rock.

With some spare morning time and two computers with multiple sessions running simultaneously I created Spotify Radio stations and Pandora Stations based on Santana and also based on a Santana song. Here are my results:

[A]
Pandora - Free
 > Seed song for station = Black Magic Woman, by Santana [1968]

1. Hotel California (live) - Eagles 
2. The house of the rising sun - The Animals
3. All along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
4. Oye Como Va - Santana
5. Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin
6. Break on through - The Doors
7. Ain’t No Sunshine - Bill Withers
8. She’s not there - Santana
9. Caribbean Rain - Armik
10. Jamming - Bob Marley


[B.]
Spotify Premium
 > Seed song = Black Magic Woman, by Santana

1. In The Air - Mac Miller ** this might be the same Rap song that BoJonJovi heard **
2. You Sexy thing - Hot Chocolate
3. You could be happy - Snow Patrol
4. Listen to the Music - The Doobie Brothers
5. Symptoms - Atlas Genius
6. Wild World - Cat Stevens
7. The Pusher - Steppenwolf
8. Stand By Me - Ben E. King
9. Breakfast in America - Supertramp
10. Long Train Running - The Doobie Brothers


[C]
Spotify Basic - Free
 > Seed song = Black magic woman, by Santana

1. Green Onions - Booker T& the MG’s
2. Kung Fu Fighting - Carl Douglas
3. Gimme Some Truth - John Lennon
4. Sunshine of your love - Cream
5. Live and Let Die (live and let die soundtrack) - Paul McCartney
6. Paint it, Black - The Rolling Stones
7. Turn, turn, turn - The Byrds
8. Bad to the Bone - George Thorogood and the the destroyers
9. Hotel California - Eagles
10. Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf



[D]
Spotify Premium
 > Seed ARTIST = Santana

1. Just Fell Better - Santana
2. I’d love to change - Ten Years after
3. Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead
4. Sea of Joy - Blind Faith
5. Fried Hockey Boogie - Canned Heat
6. Satellite (Dirty Dancing Savana Nights soundtrack) - Santana
7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Santana (with Indie. Arie & Yo-Yo Ma)
8. You can Leave your hat on - Joe Cocker
9. I Put a Spell on You - Jeff Beck (feat. Joss Stone)
10. Rudy - Supertramp


[E]
Pandora - Free
 > Seed ARTIST  = Santana

1. Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen - Santana
2. Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
3. Mi Amor - Armik
4. Hotel California - Eagles
5. Oye Como Va - Santana
6. Bleeding Heart - Jimmy D. Lane
7. Black Magic Woman - Paul Green School of Rock Music
8. Song of the Wind - Santana
9. My Girl - Otis Redding
10. Heaven - Los Lonely Boys



Also, note that with Spotify you can create a custom playlist, and then have Spotify create a fresh Station from that playlist. that helps narrow down the focus or variety of what will be played.

[Nick B]

Hey low.pfile         I have yet to try any of these. That was very helpful and thx for taking the time to do it   

[sts9fan]

I honestly have no idea what anyone uses Pandora any more.  Its generally an inferior product with a inferior catalog. 

[mr_bill]

I honestly have no idea what anyone uses Pandora any more.  Its generally an inferior product with a inferior catalog.

...and you recommend?

[Bob in St. Louis]

I've had both for a few years, but never have found "the button" to get Spotify to act like Pandora as far as creating a station for me. I use Spotify when I want to hear a specific song right now, and can save them to a playlist. I'm sure some of it is lazyness, but I haven't found it yet.

[nickd]

I use Pandora (paid subscription) and really enjoy it.

My in house rules for Pandora enjoyment.
1. I use ONLY the original seed artist for the station.
2. Never add another artist to a station. 
3. Use "Thumbs Down" for the crappy "wild card" songs that can pop up.
4. Never "Thumbs Up" any song no matter how tempting it may be.

Sound with my Sonos feeding PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC is fine, and I discover lots of new music and artists. I usually check out the entire album on Rhapsody before purchasing the LP, CD or download for "hi rez" playback.

[low.pfile]

I've had both for a few years, but never have found "the button" to get Spotify to act like Pandora as far as creating a station for me. I use Spotify when I want to hear a specific song right now, and can save them to a playlist. I'm sure some of it is lazyness, but I haven't found it yet.

Bob,
it depends on the device used for Spotify. on the Mac's stand alone player after an artist is chosen there actually is a "button" at the top of the player, or you can right-click on the thumbnail on the bottom left album artwork or a song in the list, as shown here:





Note the "Add to..." in the contextual menu is for adding a song to a playlist (pre-existing, or you can create a new playlist in this step too)

On iphone iOS, after the artist is selected there are three dots (aka more) on the top right, clicking the dots produces a pop-up "START RADIO" button appears.
Then on iPad, there is a button with an icon ((•)) to start a "radio station" with the current artist.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Ohh baby..... 
I've seen the "Start Radio" button, and think I even pressed it once. But I promptly cut its head off since I wasn't getting what I thought I wanted as instantly as I wanted it.
Thank you very much.
I just started my first station: Dr. Michael White "Basin Street Blues"
As songs happen by, I'll give them the appropriate thumb gesture. Thanks again, that did the trick.   

Bob

[low.pfile]

Bob, glad it helped! ....there is always that >>| button for skipping some odd track. but there is so much music out there all of these players are awesome passive ways to be exposed. sure you can used these as outlines for heading to your local record stores or friends. Enjoy listening!

[Bob in St. Louis]

You're very welcome!
Say....On Pandora, if you click the >>l  button too many times in a hour, you get a spanking.
Is it the same with Spotify?

[low.pfile]

You're very welcome!
Say....On Pandora, if you click the >>l  button too many times in a hour, you get a spanking.
Is it the same with Spotify?

Yes and No.

Yes, if you don't pay.
No, if you pay.

I pay. I can skip all day/night long and they don't admonish me

[Bob2]

The limited number of skips is yet another sucking point for pandora.....

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks for the wisdom and assistance!