Comparing Internet Radio Services

1. Internet Radio Web Programming Dustin J. Fleury 12/5/2009

2. What is Internet Radio? Allows you to listen to streaming music in a lossy codec. i.e. WMA, MP3, OGG Vorbis etc.. Often better then traditional radio quality Differs from traditional radio Offer recommendations Some better then others Different Methods of Delivery Direct Web Delivery, URL into a Media Player

3. How does it work? Browse to the Internet Radio Providers website i.e. http://www.grooveshark.com Type in the specific artist or song title Depending on the service similar music is played or that specific song or artist is played. Random or Popular music as an immediate option

4. Comparing two giants: Two Major Sites to Compare: GrooveShark™ Pandora™ Different strengths and weaknesses Direct web delivery approach Through interactive web applets

5. Comparing services: Grooveshark™ The GrooveShark™ Interface

7. Radio feature intends to imitate music Genome Project.

8. Music is not necessarily similar.

9. Not as advanced as Music Genome Project

11. Song skips limited to 11 per day

12. Strict licensing when compared to GrooveShark

13. Full CSS take over of Ads

14. Modify entire Pandora page and player to suit the ad

15. Audible Ads

16. Music Selection

17. Difficult to find more obscure material

18. Typing a song name won’t necessarily play it.Pros Of Pandora: Easy to use Utilizes the Music Genome Project Specific songs are chosen based on actual attributes I.E. “This song has been chosen because it features a similar melody to such and such.” Radio feature Users listen by creating a station based on some music they like Radio suggests songs based on that.

19. Conclusion Use Both! Pandora Great for discovering new music suggested by the music Genome Project based on what you like in the first place. Songs are chosen based on actual musical content – Impressive! Lots of Ads and terrible song skip limit in place 11 Songs per day All songs seem to be complete and good quality Once you discover it… use GrooveShark to play it. GrooveShark Great to play music that you know for free Often has hard to find music that Pandora won’t even offer. Streaming somewhat similar music based on the long-tail of other users thumbs up or down. Radio feature seems more of an after though, songs determined by what users listened to after your song and whether they clicked thumbs up or down.

20. Citations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora_music_service http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lossy_compression http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_radio http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12519_7-9987201-49.html http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/reviews/4206694.html http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/pandora/index.html http://www.grooveshark.com http://www.pandora.com