Last summer my car was broken into and my laptop was stolen. Megabummer. As ticked off as I was that my mobile man cave was violated, something great came out of it.

I listen to at least 4 hours of music every day at work. I had gigs of music on my laptop and even though I had my music backed up, but I have loaded less than 100MB on my new computer. The reason? I have been listening to music on free internet radio services from Pandora and Slacker, and loving it. This is one of the best applications of the internet that effects our daily lives.

Internet radio services let you select from stations, artists or genres and then services stream music right to your PC. Internet radio services can also connect to portable devices, like BlackBerry and iPhone. There are an increasing number of internet connected devices: HDTVs, Blu-ray players and digital picture frames, that also have internet radio services built in. Internet radio can’t be too far away from being built into car audio systems as well.

The two major players in internet radio are Pandora and Slacker. Both offer similar music streaming services. Users can set up stations based on a genre, artist or song then Pandora and Slacker serve up songs that are logically related. The music that the stations stream is continually refined based on users ranking the music that is played. For example, the songs that are streamed are modified based on if skips, banned songs or if a song is given a thumbs down. It’s like telling the DJ what you like and don’t like, then he plays music based on what you tell him.

Both Pandora and Slacker interrupt your music with audio and banner advertising. Both also offer subscription upgrades to eliminate the ads and with unlimited skips (without subscriptions users are limited to 5 skips per day). Pandora also limits listening time to 40 hours per month, and the subscription allows unlimited listening.

So how do these internet radio stations stack up against each other?

Pros

1. Pandora
   1. Purchases can be played on any mp3 player or device.
   2. Music is sold through iTunes and  amazon(CD or mp3).
   3. iPod and iTunes friendly.
   4. Genre stations are great.
2. Slacker
   1. Unlimited listening time
   2. Show the next song to be played and other artists on each station.
   3. Allows users to customize stations by requesting songs from the artist playing. This also helps customize the station to the user’s taste.
   4. Integrated into a lot of Sony Products: Walkman, BRAVIA TV, Sony Blu-ray Player.
   5. The G2 makes taking your stations on the road easy without ads.

Cons

1. Pandora
   1. Stations become repetitive after a lot of input.
2. Slacker
   1. Purchases can only be played in the Slacker system

Mobile

Both Pandora and Slacker are available on many phones. This is a really great way to enjoy music anywhere you have a few bars. Just make sure you have an unlimited data plan! Streaming music can really eat into your minutes quickly. Here are the phones that these stations are available on:

1. Pandora
   1. Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, palm pre, and Windows Mobile
2. Slacker
   1. Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, iPod Touch, Sony Walkman

Mobile Players

1. Pandora: mp3 players, iPod, iPhone
2. Slacker: Slacker G2

Slacker offers a portable player, the Slacker G2, that is pretty interesting. It is very easy to set up and comes with great headphones. Users set up 10 radio stations on the player, and Slacker loads the station with music. To keep music fresh, the stations update whenever the G2 gets in range of wifi. This provides users with a portable device that always has new music at your fingertips. The G2 is ad free and has unlimited skips. It’s not the same as an iPod since you don’t always know what music you will have access to, but it seems to serve up a good mix.

Conclusion

Pandora is a great fit for those cave men who want to set it and forget it. Music bought from Pandora is iPod friendly. It also produces better results from genre searches than Slacker, genres have more sub-genres to really dial in a station to user’s tastes. But if you are really looking to actively explore music, then Slacker is the way to go. The internet player is superior and seems to build better stations without the repetition of Pandora. Slacker searches better by artist than Pandora, which is a matter of taste. I will never trade in my iPod for the G2, but it is carving out some of my commute and gym time. I really suggest using Slacker at work to keep the music interesting. Sony fans will find Slacker a natural fit since it is integrated into an increasing number of Sony products.

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Tags: Android, BlackBerry, Internet Radio, iPhone, iPod, mps, palm pre, Pandora, Slacker, Slacker G2, Sony Walkman, Windows Mobile