Bye Bye Pandora, Hello Slacker

[tubemonkey]

Last Friday, I reached the 40 hour monthly cap for free ad-supported listening that Pandora has imposed on mobile devices. So I switched to Slacker and probably won't look back. I must drop Pandora an email thanking them for turning me on to Slacker.

[afv011]

You get ads on Slacker, don't you?

I use both Slacker and Sky FM, as Pandora has no love for Canada.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by afv011

You get ads on Slacker, don't you?

I use both Slacker and Sky FM, as Pandora has no love for Canada.

Yep, still get ads. At least they don't cap mobile use to 40 hrs/month. I can easily burn through that within a month. This time, it only took me 12 days to max out.

Never tried Sky FM.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Never tried Sky FM.

Give it a try. You only get one interruption per hour or thereabouts, something like 30 seconds to advertise their paid service, which offers higher quality streams.

[jersysman]

Tube, what happens when you reach 40 hours on Pandora? Do they just shut off your account or put the ads back on it? I get mine through Roku and have noticed that the ads aren't there anymore.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by jersysman

Tube, what happens when you reach 40 hours on Pandora? Do they just shut off your account or put the ads back on it? I get mine through Roku and have noticed that the ads aren't there anymore.

If you have a paid account, you have unlimited streaming. This limit only applies to free accounts streaming on mobile devices. When you reach the 40-hour limit, you're given several options: pay $0.99 to finish listening for the rest of the month (with ads) or continue free listening on your computer (with ads) or upgrade to a paid account (no ads) or quit listening until the next month begins.

Pandora implemented the 40-hour limit for free ad-supported mobile streams, because they said they're not generating enough income to support that model.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by afv011

Give it a try. You only get one interruption per hour or thereabouts, something like 30 seconds to advertise their paid service, which offers higher quality streams.

Thanks; I'll give it a shot

edit: Just signed up and am listening to "Best of the 60s" now. So far, so good.

[jersysman]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

If you have a paid account, you have unlimited streaming. This limit only applies to free accounts streaming on mobile devices. When you reach the 40-hour limit, you're given several options: pay $0.99 to finish listening for the rest of the month (with ads) or continue free listening on your computer (with ads) or upgrade to a paid account (no ads) or quit listening until the next month begins.

Pandora implemented the 40-hour limit for free ad-supported mobile streams, because they said they're not generating enough income to support that model.

Okay. I guess I don't listen to it enough then. I've not run into this limit yet where I had to make a decision.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by jersysman

Okay. I guess I don't listen to it enough then. I've not run into this limit yet where I had to make a decision.

Most people don't. I'm a power user. I could pay for it, but I have a limit on entertainment spending and a music subscription would put me over that limit. Since there are other free options out there, I see no need to rearrange my entertainment budget.

[John Carroll]

Interesting. I have Pandora for my computer at home, but never really use it on my phone. I think I'll try Sky FM to see how they are.

[tubemonkey]

Update: Well, I stopped listening to Sky FM because of the way they played the ads. I don't mind one minute ads at all; but I do mind when the ad consumes the first minute of the next song. When the ad finishes, the next song has already been playing for a minute. What's with that?

And my biggest gripe with Slacker is that they're playing way too many songs that are not the original recordings. That's a no go.

So for now, I'm going back to pre-programmed stations form AOL Radio and TuneIn Radio. My favorite genres are British Invasion and Classic Rock.

[kindlekitten]

I have no problem paying the 32 or 35 or whatever it is a year to listen to Pandora. I can listen to it at work, at home, on my cell phone, on my fire, no worries, no commercials, and I play it MY WAY.