Do you find yourself going through your iTunes library again and
again looking for something interesting to listen to? You’re not alone.
Most of us have been using iTunes for years and, over that time period,
most of our musical tastes have changed. Even if you go through your
library every few months and delete music you’re not listening to, it’s
still easy for your library to become stagnant.
Enter the online music streaming service. By utilizing sites like
Pandora, Slacker, Rdio and Spotify, you can rejuvenate that music
library and find new and interesting music. Continue reading after the
jump to learn more about these services, what they have to offer, what
they’re lacking and how they can help freshen up your DJ set.
Pandora
If you’re a music fan and haven’t heard of Pandora, you must be
living under a rock. Started in 2000, Pandora has changed the way people
listen to music on their computer (and on their mobile devices for that
matter). Pandora has done one thing very, very well, and that’s
simplifying the music discovery process.
Go to their site, type in an artist, and away you go. No wading
through your bloated iTunes library, no switching between radio
stations, no real work at all. If you like a song, give it a thumbs-up.
If not, give it a thumbs-down. It really is that easy. Bookmark tracks
or artists you dig to look up later, or skip a song if you’re tired of
it. The simplicity of Pandora is what really drives it home.
The Good:
- Create up to 100 stations.
- Paid membership ($36/year) removes ads, plays higher quality files
(192kbps), allows use of Pandora One desktop app, custom skins, more
skips.
- Supported on most mobile devices, including iPhone, iPod Touch, certain Blackberrys, Android, Palm Pre/Pixi and iPad.
- Integrated with some home music systems.
The Bad:
- Limited to 6 skips per hour, 12 per day for free users.
- Time out period, Pandora will stop playing music if you don’t interact with it for a certain amount of time.
Slacker
Slacker is another music streaming service that has been around for a
few years. When Slacker first started, they offered their own music
player (which I owned and enjoyed), but after mobile devices, such as
the iPhone and iPod Touch, began to dominate the market they scratched
the player and focused on their music streaming service.
Slacker offers over 100 pre-made radio stations managed by real life
DJs, which ensures the music sticks to a certain genre (this can be an
issue with Pandora). They also allow you to fine tune the stations to
fit your tastes by setting things like popularity of the tracks played,
year the track was released, and whether the track is one of your
favorites. They also give you the option of turning off the DJ, which
means you won’t have anyone interrupting your music with news, etc.
By far, my favorite feature of the Slacker service is the addition of
mobile caching. This allows you to save the stations to your device for
listening while disconnected from an internet source. This is great
when travelling, camping, or any time when you have spotty service. One
caveat is that this feature is only available to paying subscribers.
The Good:
- Over 100 pre-made stations spanning numerous genres.
- Supported on iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, Nokia and Palm devices.
- Paid subscription ($3.99/month) includes viewing the “up next” artist, unlimited song skips, no ads and complete song lyrics.
- Integrated with some Sony, AR and Logitech home music systems.
- Mobile app allows you to cache a station for listening while disconnected from an internet source.
The Bad:
- Having to pay to see the next song is very annoying, especially if you’re in charge of music at a party/cookout and are using the service as a DJ substitute.
- Limited to 6 skips per hour.
- More expensive than Pandora (Slacker’s closest rival).
Rdio
Rdio is a relative newcomer in the music streaming scene, but they
are taking it by storm. Before I go any further, I’d like that say that,
in my opinion, Rdio is the best music streaming service out there at
the moment. I have been a full paying member ($9.99/month for web and
mobile access, $4.99/month for web-only access) for almost a year now
and use Rdio every day on my computer and on my iPhone.
What sets Rdio apart from the other popular music streaming sites
like Pandora and Slacker? First of all, on demand streaming; this means
that you can pick any track available on Rdio and play it at any time,
as many times as you want. Second, caching; you can cache any track,
album or playlist available on Rdio to listen to even when disconnected
from the Internet. This essentially eliminates the need to buy music
(except for DJing, of course).
If I like an album, I cache it to my phone. That way, it is available
at any time, whether I’m connected to the Internet or not. This is
great for discovering new music. I typically browse the New Releases
page on Rdio a few times a week, pick a few albums that look interesting
(based on reviews, recommendations, album art, etc.) and sync it to my
phone.
During my commute or when I’m hanging out at home, I’ll throw on the
new albums to see if I like them. I’ve discovered countless new artists
this way over the last year, and Rdio has really helped rejuvenate my
music library.
Another thing I love about Rdio vs. Spotify (who is Rdio’s real
competitor at this point) is the fact that you can stream from their
website, whereas with Spotify you have to download their desktop app.
This is great if you want to listen to music when you’re away from your
main computer (at work, a friend’s house, a library, etc).
The Good:
- Awesome iPhone app and web interface.
- Caching of entire albums and/or artist catalogs.
- Nicely formatted New Releases page.
- Play any song at any time.
The Bad:
- Price. $9.99/month for web & mobile access, $4.99/month for web-only access.
- Must pay to access the service, there is no free option (they do offer a 7-day free trial).
Spotify
Spotify has been generating a ton of buzz lately, and for good
reason. The music service has been operating in Europe for months now,
leaving those of us in the U.S. chomping at the bit. Spotify has finally
opened their doors to US customers (the free service still requires an
invitation), and it appears as if they are gaining a significant
following very quickly.
Spotify’s service highly resembles the Rdio service I detailed
previously, so I won’t go into as much detail here. Spotify allows you
to play any song at any time, and allows you to have a “Library” that
includes music housed on your computer and music from Spotify’s online
collection. Their pricing structure is the same as Rdio, $9.99/month for
web and mobile access and $4.99/month for web-only access.
One caveat, however, is the fact that Spotify has a free option. This
allows you to play any of the tracks from their library for free, but
Spotify interjects ads occasionally. This is huge for those people who
don’t mind listening to ads but do mind paying for a streaming service.
One thing to note is that you are still limited to using your computer
with the free service, and you won’t be able to play your collection on
your phone.
The Good:
- Very nice desktop app.
- Huge music collection.
- Great social/Facebook integration.
- Free listening option.
The Bad:
- No web-based streaming version, must download desktop app.
- Free version is still invite-only.
Why These Services Are Important For DJs
Keeping your set fresh is one of the most important aspects of your
DJ career, particularly if you have a weekly DJ gig at a local bar or
club. The last thing people want to hear is the exact same set as last
week, and that’s really where the services mentioned above come in
handy.
Did a particular artist’s song set the crowd in motion during your
previous week’s set? If so, check out similar artists in Rdio or
Spotify, or even setup up a station in Pandora or Slacker based on that
artist. You are almost guaranteed to find something new to add to your
repertoire.
Another reason to use these services is because people tend to get
tired of songs they hear too often. If you are listening to the radio
for inspiration, chances are a lot of the people in your audience are
listening to the same station, especially if you live in the same city.
If you add too many songs from Top 40 radio, people are sure to get
bored, so make sure to include some deeper or more obscure cuts to spice
up your set. Slacker has a setting for this in each of their radio
stations, and you can actually choose to only hear less popular tracks.
The Bottom Line
If you find yourself listening to the same music over and over again, try some of these sites.
Most of these services offer a free version or trial, so there is no
reason not to give a few of them a shot.
