Amazon Music vs. Pandora

Many have heard of and interacted with Pandora's internet radio sensation, but just last January, Amazon has attempted to enter into the internet radio craze itself with Amazon Music Unlimited, which they are offering free 30 day trials here right now. So, which one is better? Well, I started my own free trial to see what the big deal was.

First off, the concept seemed very similar, but then, I started to notice some marked differences, which have caused me to enjoy the interface of Amazon Music even more than Pandora. First off, your exhaustive history of listening is stored. Pandora remembers what you listened to only to calculate how to incorporate similar styles into your listening. Amazon Music will allow you to go back and play whichever song you wanted to listen to in your history. This is better than Pandora because Pandora will not let you play back a song you heard. It also only shows you the past three songs or so, which one has listened to rather than giving an exhaustive list. If you heard a song last week on Pandora, you could not find it again unless you wait for it to return. For Amazon Music, you could look up that song and play it in its entirety to jog your memory if one desired.

Also, there is a little plus icon next to each track one would listen to on Amazon Music. This will add the song to a playlist of favorites. Therefore, any song one hears on Amazon Music could be listened to again whenever they desire without the hassle of trying to find it in the history. What's more? You can make your very own playlists. Basically, Amazon Music functions similar to Pandora, but all of the perks of having access to the music without any limitations are at your fingertips. In these ways, Amazon Music is better than Pandora in my opinion so far.

Anyone ever have the problem with Pandora where it will play the exact same song that the station played the last four times you listened to it? I tested it with Amazon Music, and it did not do this. The memory system might alert the radio of the first song listened to last time, and it will make sure it is not the same perhaps. However they do it, it far exceeds Pandora just by keeping things new when you flip on a station.

Just like Pandora, it has a thumbs up and down to like or dislike a song. In this way, the stations remember your preferences and find your music more suited to your tastes.

You can download the music to your own personal hardware if you need to go offline. However, you will need to own the music in order to download it. There are a variety of methods for downloading the Amazon Music App, which boasts that you are allowed to download the music to a separate device to listen offline, however. So, I downloaded the app to check that out as well.

First off, I noticed the app was non-invasive. That is to say, one can listen to the music on the app while operating separate apps within their phone. You don't have to be locked into that app exclusively to listen to the music. Even after turning the screen off, the music continued to play. This is a great feature, which Pandora also has. Therefore, it's no better or worse in this regard. The downloading feature worked for free though! It stored the music on my Android device for listening at any time offline! In effect, it turned my Android into an MP3 player with an unlimited variety of music or songs to choose from. Pandora requires a membership to Pandora One to accomplish this same task, so they are both neck and neck here as well it would seem.

There is one extra feature that Amazon Music has, which Pandora does not, which I discovered on the app, however. One can listen to something labeled "side by side." In this section, one can listen to a favorite artist's music while listening also to their commentary on it. I had to try it out too. So, I turned on the Grateful Dead's side by side. It started with a commentary on their song titled "Althea," which was really interesting and informative to listen to. Learning about how the band wrote the song, and how they pieced things together added to the listening experience when afterward the song they spoke about played. The side by side feature is one, which makes the listening experience so much more enjoyable. The commentary is very concise too, so you aren't stuck listening to ten minutes of commentary before you actually get to the music. There is only a minute or two for the commentary length.

Another exciting feature is the x-ray lyrics. One can see the lyrics to any song as they listen to it, and they scroll along with the progression of the lyrics. They are extremely accurate in their scrolling, so one isn't reading the lyrics at the incorrect time. Sometimes, I like to know what the musicians are singing about, but I don't quite catch what they say here or there on a brand new song to me. Therefore, I just try to remember the song to look up the lyrics later. On Amazon Music, I don't have to do this. The lyrics are right there.

All in all, Amazon Music is a better experience, and it is worth the investment if you are an avid music listener. It costs a little more than Pandora One, but with all of the additional perks, it makes sense to choose Amazon Music over Pandora in this author's opinion. If you would like to try out a free thirty-day trial, you can do so hereand make your own conclusion about it. I'm sure you will enjoy what you discover there though.