Switching from Pandora to Slacker (available for Blackberry, iPhone and Android)

In online debates between Pandora Internet Radio and Slacker Personal Radio, I had always (and ignorantly) sided with Pandora. Now, I believe I was sorely mistaken. Slacker has better features and a larger library of music than Pandora. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so anti-Slacker when Verizon pushed Slacker to all of its Blackberry customers. (I hate when the push anything to my phone.) In this post, I detail some of the features that make Slacker the clear winner.

For the initiated, Pandora and Slacker are available on both the web and mobile devices. Both apps allow you to create personal radio stations. You input the music you like (by artist or song name) and they stream music that you like and are expected to like.

There is significant overlap between the two in terms of features but here’s where Slacker edges out Pandora:

• More music. Slacker has a much deeper music library than Pandora. Not only does it contain the hits, but it also contains many obscure artists and songs.
• “Fine Tune” feature in Slacker. This is a big win for Slacker. You can choose from a number of options, including whether you want to hear only popular music by your favorite artists or lesser-known titles.
• Caching stations. Slacker allows you to store music on your MicroSD card. This allows you to play music when you are out of data range but it also allows you to save on battery life.
• Customization limits. Pandora only allows for a fixed number of custom stations and a “Quick Mix” which shuffles all custom stations. Slacker has no limit on customizations. Some complain that Slacker has no Quick Mix feature. This is a misconception. In Slacker, you can create one station with all of your favorites and this serves as your Quick Mix.
• Each free version supports skip precious skips per day. Slacker, however, identifies the next upcoming song. This is helpful in deciding whether to use a skip.
• Play limits in the free version. Pandora permits up to 40 hours of playback per month. Slacker has no limit.
• Sound quality is the exactly the same on both Pandora and Slacker. This based on my own ears and reports I have read online from users with high-end equipment.

There is nothing “wrong” with Pandora. It works well and I enjoyed it for many months. However, Slacker is more feature rich. That’s why I finally made the jump to Slacker. You can begin using Slacker by visiting the slacker.com website.

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