Santa brought me a Sirius satellite radio kit for my car. While I’m enjoying the tunes, I’m finding that I already own most of them. Also, working from home the way I do, I am not in the car all that much to enjoy my music.
What I need is to be able to enjoy my Sirius subscription from my desk. Sirius offers subscribers the ability to listen to its music online for free. The only problem is the streams’ sound quality sucks, even at the alleged 32Kpbs that they offer. I could upgrade my streaming options to 128Kpbs but I’m not willing to shell out another $3/month in addition to my already paid-up subscription.
That’s why I’m glad I discovered Pandora this week. Its a free music service that tailors your streams based on your musical preferences. As a song plays, you can give it a thumbs-up or thumbs-down which Pandora then uses to choose your upcoming songs.
Already Pandora has introduced me to at least three bands I like that I wouldn’t ordinarily have discovered, simply because it has “learned” my music tastes. I leave it running in a browser tab as I work. Also, but the streams sound fantastic. The sound quality is excellent.
Go sign up for a free account with Pandora and see where it takes you. You won’t be disappointed (oh, and did I mention its free?)
very cool…I have to commend Pandora on its design. I went there and typed in a band that I liked and it built the radio station. Oh, but I forgot to create an account! I was bummed that the song that I was listening to that I really liked would stop playing because I would be taken away from the page. Nope! I opened an account on the same page and I kept listening to my song. Good job on Pandora’s part! w00t!
Sirius bills itself as “the best radio on radio.” As good as it is, I think I can’t hold a candle to Pandora. Pandora is much better at playing the music I like. I’d be willing to subscribe to Pandora, too, if it meant I could download podcasts to take with me.