How Pandora and Spotify Work
When a user visits Pandora and creates a radio station based on, for example, his or her favorite artist, Pandora searches for similar artists and songs using the complex algorithms of the Music Genome Project, a music database that Pandora has patented. The Music Genome Project compiles information on songs, first categorizing each one by genre. A musician then analyzes every song for up to 30 minutes at a time, finding unique characteristics with which to further categorize the music by (e.g., types of instruments used, gender of lead vocalist, rhythm, tonality, etc.). Most songs have hundreds of attributes that help Pandora determine the similarities and differences between one song and another.
Pandora users can further customize their personal radio stations by giving a thumbs up or thumbs down to songs that are recommended to them. They can also share their stations with friends; however, linking to specific songs directly is impossible due to licensing restrictions.
But what Spotify is trying to figure out right now is how many users out there would actually be willing to pay for non-music content in its app. At first glance, it looks like Spotify wants to. In this review, I focus on the iOS and Android apps, the ones getting the most attention from Spotify. There are apps for Mac and Windows desktop, plus Windows Phone, but you'll get a somewhat.
If you don’t have a Google or Alexa voice‑controlled smart speaker, you can still access your briefing by searching “Parents Tip of the Day” on Google Play, Spotify, iTunes, and iHeart. With the Spotify app and a free account you can pick 15 playlists featuring up to 750 songs in total. These can't be stored for offline playback, but there is a low-data-use mode that caches some.
Spotify is less about new music discovery than it is about replacing traditional music players, like iTunes or Windows Media Player, with streamable music. Spotify depends on a large catalogue of roughly 20 million songs to accomplish this—a sticking point in some countries when major record labels have not wanted to make deals with the company. In theory, users should be able to create an account on Spotify, search for any song or artist that they like, and begin streaming that music with Spotify's online player.
Playlists
On Pandora, radio stations are really just playlists (and vice versa) and come with the same limitations that all Pandora stations come with. Users can build their own stations/playlists based on their favorite music, use friends' shared playlists, or take advantage of one of many public Pandora stations that are based on genre. However, manually adding individual songs or albums is not supported.
Playlists on Spotify work in the same way that playlists in traditional media players work. Music is manually added or removed by the user. The only difference between Spotify's playlists and traditional media players' playlists is that Spotify's can be easily shared (and even co-edited). This has made Spotify a popular choice among those searching for a free or cheap and legal way to share their favorite artists and songs. It has even led to the creation of full websites (e.g., Playlists.net) dedicated to sharing and rating spotify playlists.
Pandora allows users to create up to 100 unique stations/playlists, while Spotify puts no limit on the number of playlists a user can create.
Phone Apps
Spotify App Parent Reviews
Pandora has mobile phone apps for Android and iOS, as well as some limited support among Windows Mobile devices and Blackberries. On the iPhone, the Pandora app can only be installed using a U.S., Australian, or New Zealand iTunes account.
Spotify has apps available on a wide variety of mobile devices around the globe. Android, iOS, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile and Windows Phone are all supported.
Free vs Paid Subscriptions
Relatively few restrictions are placed on non-paying Pandora and Spotify members. The most jarring difference between free and paid memberships on both services is the presence of ads; paying members experience no audio ads on Pandora or Spotify.
Pandora's premium membership is known as Pandora One and costs $4.99 a month. Spotify's subscription is known as Spotify Premium; at $9.99 a month, it is more expensive than Pandora One.
As of 2014, students can subscribe to Spotify Premium for $4.99 a month provided they have a .edu email address from an accredited college or university in the U.S. that they can prove they are enrolled in. This reduced pricing is available to students for three years.
Restrictions on Free Membership
Both Pandora and Spotify put restrictions on non-paying users. The restrictions have changed numerous times over the years as both companies have tried out different pricing models and been affected by changing licensing fees or laws.
At present, Pandora's restrictions on its free members are as follows:
- Audio advertisements that last for 15 to 30 seconds periodically interrupt music. The number of ads served up in an hour varies depending on the operating device (i.e., whether listening to Pandora via computer, mobile, or car).
- Restrictions on how many songs can be skipped in a day. Six skips are allowed, per hour and per station; only 30 skips are permitted across all stations in a 24-hour period. Clicking the 'next' play button, selecting 'I'm tired of this track,' or downvoting (giving a thumbs down to) a song while it plays all count as a skip.
- Reduced audio quality. Music for free members plays at 64 kilobits per second in an AAC+ format. Built-in apps for televisions and other non-mobile devices, like Roku, may receive a slightly higher quality of 128 kbps.
- Timeouts. To avoid paying royalties on songs that users might not be listening to, Pandora periodically times out if the player has not been used in a while.
Spotify places similar restrictions on its free members:
Free Spotify App
- 15- to 30-second audio ads.
- Reduced audio quality. However, at 160 kbps in the Ogg format Spotify's free version offers a higher quality sound than Pandora does.
Premium Membership Benefits
Pandora One's benefits include the following:
- No ads.
- Higher audio quality of 192 kbps.
- Downloadable desktop application. Users are no longer limited to using Pandora on their mobile devices or in the browser.
- Custom skins for the web application.
- Fewer timeouts, allowing users to listen for longer periods of time without having to interact with the player.
Spotify Premium benefits include the following:
- No ads.
- Ability to download music for offline listening.
- Higher audio quality of 320 kbps for some songs.
- Use of Spotify Connect, which allows users to hook up other hardware to Spotify's mobile app.
Library Size
In 2011, Tim Westergren, a founder of Pandora, stated that the service had over 900,000 songs in its library catalogue at the time. More recent statistics are difficult to find, but it is likely Pandora has well over a million songs in its database as of 2014. Pandora has a good track record of finding and adding obscure independent artists, which aids users in discovering new music.
Because Spotify depends on having songs available on demand, the company has been more aggressive about making deals with major labels as well as well known independent labels. In 2012, its catalogue was said to hold about 20 million songs; however, the size of the catalogue varies by region due to licensing restrictions.
Social Features
Pandora and Spotify provide users with several ways to share music, but Spotify has more widespread, general sharing capabilities than Pandora does.
On Pandora, users can share links to stations via email, Facebook, or Twitter. Users can also share links to individual tracks, but the web address points to general song information—lyrics, purchase info, and a link to create a station based on the song, not listen to it directly (see an example).
With Spotify, users can share individual songs, full albums, and playlists. This is done via special links that target the Spotify application itself. This flexibility has led many third-party websites to adopt Spotify links as a method to legally share music. And as of 2014, Spotify has teamed up with Last.fm, an online music statistics and recommendation service, to try to compete with Pandora.
Parental Controls
For parents who are concerned about the music their children might listen to, Pandora is the better option, as it offers parental control options that will play censored versions of songs and exclude others entirely. Because every song is analyzed by real people, Pandora's parental controls are very reliable and do not simply rely on 'Parental Advisory' labels.
In contrast to Pandora's rigorous parental control system, Spotify offers no such capabilities. This means that explicit, uncensored music is available to anyone who signs up to Spotify.
Other Features
While Spotify's flexibility may make it more universal on the web in some respects, Pandora is found a lot more frequently beyond computers and mobile devices. Not only do many audio-video receives, media players, and HDTVs carry default support for Pandora, but so too do many modern automobiles that have digital radio systems.
Spotify can be found on or downloaded for many mobile devices and media players, but it is rarer on HDTVs and is not built in to any vehicle's digital radio systems by default. In some cases, Spotify Connect can be used to join Spotify with a device or set of speakers, which are controlled via the Spotify mobile app, but Connect requires a premium membership.
Availability and Popularity
Pandora is much more popular than Spotify in the U.S.
Pandora has more users than Spotify does, but Spotify's service is available to more users around the world. Whereas Pandora only serves users in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand, due to licensing issues, Spotify reaches dozens of countries and territories (click here for a full list). This has made Spotify popular outside of the U.S., but Americans remain loyal to Pandora according to statistics.
In 2014, Pandora reached 200 million users, with nearly 70 million active each month. By comparison, Spotify has about 40 million users as of 2014, 10 million of them premium subscribers.
Both Pandora and Spotify depend on banner advertisements, music-interrupting ads, and premium member subscriptions for funding. However, as of 2014, both companies operate at a net loss.
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**This post was updated December 20, 2019.**
Engaged parents know the challenges kids face as they dive into the world of social media. That’s why it’s important for parents to be a guiding force in teaching online etiquette. Bark was created to support parents by detecting and alerting you to potential issues, allowing teens privacy and providing the tools necessary to speak to them about potential issues. While issues can arise on pretty much any app, here are some of the ones that are most popular with teens and tweens, so make sure you’re monitoring them closely.
1. Instagram
Instagram is a favorite social platform for teens that focuses primarily on photos and videos. Teens can share selfies, memes, and anything else they enjoy, which then allows others to leave comments. Instagram is a great way to keep in touch, but it also presents plenty of opportunities for cyberbullying and inappropriate behavior. With the advent of subtweeting, Finstas, and pornographic hashtags, Instagram is no longer just about pretty pictures. Bark monitors the images, videos, and comments your child posts. Additionally, we can monitor Instagram direct messages and searches on connected Android and Amazon devices. However, Instagram does not allow external access to private messages on iOS… yet!
2. Snapchat
Snapchat is one of the most popular social media platforms among teens. This is partly because Snapchat automatically erases photos and text messages after a few seconds. Kids may think they will not get caught when they send risky messages to someone, but they often don’t consider that other users can take screenshots or even screen recordings of their Snaps. These can then be shared and potentially used for cyberbullying and other nefarious purposes.
Fortunately, there are ways to reduce risky behaviors on Snapchat. It’s normal for teens to explore their sexuality, but remind them that sexting and sending nudes or other explicit messages can carry criminal liability. Additionally, Bark is able to scan public and private Snapchat stories and monitor Snapchat direct messages (DMs) on Android and Amazon devices.
3. GroupMe
GroupMeallows Android and iPhone users to group chat with each other easily over Wi-Fi, letting them stay within their data limits. The app can also be used to schedule events or send money, and it has an array of emojis and GIFs available. However, the emoji and GIF features are not always age-appropriate and may include adult content. There is also no way to delete a past post, which means a user’s control over their content is very limited. However, Bark is able to monitor your child’s group messages and private messages on GroupMe, including the images and media associated with each.
Offer not available if you’ve previously tried Spotify Premium. Offer valid thru 9/30/2020 and provides 6 months Spotify Premium free from redemption date. After trial ends, you will automatically remain a Spotify Premium subscriber and your credit card will be charged monthly at the then-current Spotify Premium price. To cancel anytime go here. 1 day ago Sonos Challenges Spotify and Apple With New Streaming Music Service. The thing that most stands out here is that Sonos Radio HD will be $8 per month after a 30-day free trial. Download the Sonos app for iOS, Android, FireOS, Windows, and macOS. Instantly control any number of locations from the Rockbot Dashboard, Remote App, & Sonos Controller. Learn more 30-day free trial SOUNDMACHINE is music for business. Choose from hundreds of stations, create your own from a catalog of 40M+ tracks, and import your favorite playlists from Spotify, Apple Music, and more. Sonos supports Spotify Free and Spotify Premium accounts. A Spotify Free account allows you to search for Spotify artists, albums, and playlists in the Sonos app. When listening to music with a Spotify Free account, you’re limited to six song skips per hour. Sonos free trial spotify.
4. Twitter
Twitter is another popular social media app that kids use to share memes or keep track of their favorite celebrities. Can you install apps like spotify on an ipod nano. Monitoring Twitter is important, as it is often a top choice for messaging between teens.Bark monitors kids’ Twitter accounts, including their private direct messages. As another safety measure, follow the celebrities that your teen follows and discuss any tweets you see that are inappropriate.
5. TikTok
TikTok is quickly becoming one of the most popular apps for teens and tweens. Although the platform began as a lip-syncing app, it is now used to create 15-second videos about anything from cooking tutorials to short history lessons to comedy skits. But cyberbullying and sexual content can also be part of the TikTok experience, so monitoring is important. Bark monitors TikTok on Android so that you’re alerted to any potentially concerning content.
Social Media Apps and Online Safety
Many teens use social media apps to communicate and share fun memes with their peers. Online safety challenges may arise as teens learn how to use them responsibly. We all have to keep in mind that the frontal lobe — the impulse control and decision-making part of our brains — is not fully developed until our early 20s. Kids do not always understand the permanent and future consequences of today’s actions. This means when your kids or their friends are dealing with online issues like cyberbullying, they need guidance from a trusted adult.
Monitoring your teen’s digital life — especially on these apps — is an important part of being a digital parent. Sign up with Bark today and connect your teen’s social media apps, emails, text messages, and more.
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