Pandora Premium vs. Apple Music
A hard hitting review of my first 10 days as a Pandora Premium subscriber
“Tell me what you listen to, and I’ll tell you who you are.” ― Tiffanie DeBartolo
Pandora radio and I have had a long, prosperous relationship over the years.
Our arrangement consisted of Pandora bringing the amazing, passive music experience to my home, car and ear buds and in return, I listened to ads passive-aggressively inserted for Del Grande Dealer Group selling cars in San Jose each time I skipped a song.
I was perfectly fine with this arrangement for the better part of a decade.
In late 2016, I succumbed to the Apple Music 3-month free-trial. I subscribed with the initial purpose of a killer Halloween party playlist [anchored by K-Ci & Jojo’s 1998 hit, All My Life] and I hadn’t looked back, until now.
I continued my subscription to Apple Music for two primary reasons (in addition to never remembering to cancel subscriptions):
- To make my own playlists. I was a [self-proclaimed] genius mix-tape-cd curator back in the Late 90s/Early 2000s. I have been chasing that high ever since.
- To obsessive-compulsively listen to the same songs over and over and over again. I can’t explain this drive but I’ve always had it.
Apple Music treated me well the last few years but anytime I wanted a great, passive, internet radio experience, I retreated to Pandora. Ads and all.
Plain and simple. Pandora is better at radio than everyone else.
A great friend [and band-mate], Johnny, works for Pandora. He has been telling me about all the bad-ass new features in Pandora Premium, their subscription service to compete with Spotify and Apple Music.
Between games of ping pong and drinking from their keg-orators, they managed to create a pretty dope product over at Pandora.
10 days ago I cancelled my Apple Music subscription and signed up for Pandora Premium.
Below are a few of the things I love along with a few nit-picks in my first week and a half as a subscriber.
Disclaimer: I have never used Spotify. I realize my two Apple Music objectives could have been accomplished with Spotify years ago. This is purely a look at Pandora Premium in the context of using Apple Music for the last two years.
Things I Love
1. The Radio, Obviously
Internet radio has always been the bread and butter of Pandora. It is as good as always, and by far, superior to all competitors. Only now I can skip songs with impunity and listen without ads*.
The other cool part is, same as Apple, you can search for a specific song and play it rather than putting on the station and hoping you hear your favorite song sometime in the next 30 minutes.
They also claim better sound quality but I don’t hear a difference. I’ll take their word for it.
*More on “no ads” below.
2. Custom Playlists
The biggest selling point for Pandora Premium was the ability to curate my early 2000s inspired playlists full of Ja Rule and Blink 182 in addition to the top-notch radio. Finding the option to create a playlist wasn’t initially obvious, but easy enough once I got familiar.
In creating a playlist, I discovered two other features that crush Apple Music:
- Auto-Play: Once your playlist ends, whether 5 songs or 500, auto-play automatically creates a station based on your playlist to keep the party (or commute) rolling like it’s 2001!
- Add Similar Songs: When building your playlists, there is a button at the bottom to ‘Add Similar Songs’ which, as you might guess, add songs that fit beautifully with your already killer playlist featuring Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger [or whatever your heart desires]. I’m guessing this cool feature uses the same algorithm as the radio.
3. User Experience
Clean, smooth and intuitive. Works seamlessly.
4. Offline Mode
With multiple road trips taking us out of cell-service recently, Pandora Premium gives the option to download select stations that play automatically if you lose your internet connection.
This was a merciful reprieve from actual human interaction (kidding, honey).
I’m sure you can choose which stations are downloaded for this feature. In our case, it appeared automatically once we lost our connection with Lake St. Dive, La Vie En Rose and Sunday Funday Brunch stations downloaded for offline-mode.
All solid options.
Things I Don’t Love But Honestly Don’t Bother Me That Much
1. Artist “Messages” [Read: Commercials]
This is definitely a nit-pick, but, after all the years of listening to commercials and the promise of commercial-free pandora radio, this caught me by surprise. Pandora inserts “Artist Messages” letting you know about upcoming live shows or new albums related to the station you’re listening to.
I get it.
In a perfect world, these are enhancements a music lover such as myself would be interested in. But it did feel like a bait-and-switch when we heard the first message.
[Update 8/10/18: You can turn this off]
2. Pandora Curated Playlists
Admittedly, I haven’t spent a ton of time with this. I am sure the more I use it, the more they will learn my preferences. As it currently stands, they are pretty generic.
This could be because my favorite Pandora stations are diluted by old stations I created years ago that I no longer listen to.
This was an area that Apple Music stood out as better. Not enough to switch back, but certainly noticeable. I’m not super impressed, yet.
3. Price
Industry standard for all things subscribed is $9.99/mo.
Pandora Premium weighs-in a little heavier at $12.99/mo. Not a deal-breaker but I did have a bit of sticker shock as someone who lives for a good value.
Final Thoughts
I would recommend it for any music-lover and fellow playlist Picasso.
I probably wouldn’t recommend it for someone who doesn’t mind an auto-dealership ad or two and would never make a playlist. A compromise for that person could be Pandora Plus which is ad-free radio for $4.99/mo.
It is an amazing piece of technology. The positives far out-weigh the negatives. I wish it was $9.99/mo but for as much music as I listen to, it isn’t too bad.
Plus, I’m supporting Johnny in his pursuit of buying more gear for our band.
