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Pandora One Review: Worth the Money?

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Please tell me that you listen to music through Pandora, and perhaps through Pandora One, the subscription service. If you don’t, let me take a moment to change your world forever and for awesome. Pandora is a streaming online radio service that enables you to create specific stations based on your own interest. You tell it what you like and it will bring you music that you are sure to love. If Pandora ever gets it wrong, just tell it, and it will note your dislikes and adjust your station accordingly. It is pure genius and it has introduced me to so many wonderful artists and songs that I might not have otherwise ever heard.

pandora logo for pandora one

Tim and I have been listening to great music on Pandora for at least 3 years now, and maybe even longer. We’ve gotten members of our family into it, too. I enjoy that it’s music that can go with me anywhere I have an internet connection. There are some stations that Tim and I both enjoy listening to, like our favorite Christmas station and our Glee station. But we also each have our own personal favorites that we listen to when we are apart from one another. As I type this, Tim is likely listening to Balkan Beat Box Radio (??)…yeah, not my jam. Meanwhile, I’ve got my Ben Folds station rockin’ out.

Since we’ve been pretty darn serious with Pandora for a while, we’ve decided to take our relationship to the next level, and purchase a premium subscription, known as Pandora One. It costs $36/year, and prior to now, I haven’t been willing to fork over the money. I reasoned that I didn’t mind the occasional commercials that would play on my stations.

pandora one subscription: worth it?

If you’ve made the jump from traditional cable to a DVR service, then you know that commercials weren’t so bad until you experienced life without them. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL WITHOUT COMMERCIALS!!!! My music just keeps playing and playing with no interruptions, and I adore it, people! Tim is really enjoying it, too.

But here’s another great feature that I didn’t even know was coming with my premium subscription: unlimited skipping! You see, sometimes you might be a bit tired of a certain song that is playing, or just not be in the mood for it. You don’t dislike the song, you just want to skip it. So you do, which is fine. With a free subscription, though, you can only skip so many songs each hour. I almost always hit my limit because I’m fickle with my music. But much to my surprise and delight, you can skip to your heart’s content with Pandora One! If I had realized this, I would have gotten the subscription sooner!

EDIT: NEW INFORMATION! A free Pandora account permits 6 skips per hour per station, for up to 12 total skips per day across all stations. Upgrading to a Pandora One premium account removes the daily skip limit, although the 6 skips per hour per station limit remains  in place. Sorry that I had this wrong at the original posting date.

Finally, Pandora One offers a desktop client which is nice to have on your computer. It allows you to pull up Pandora without having to go through your browser, getting you to your music with less hassle. pandora one gift subscription

As we get ready to ring in a new year, let Pandora help with your celebrations. They will have a special New Year’s Eve party station full of upbeat celebration-inspired hits. No need to sort through your music and create a playlist! Just search for 2011 New Years Eve Party on Pandora and get ready to celebrate!

Edit: this giveaway is now closed. 

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win a Pandora One subscription! Woo hoo!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary subscription for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.
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Comments

  1. I Dont know why did you say “finally pandora offers desktop” I’ve been using Pandora since 2003 and of course there weren’t smart phones, i also still use it on desktop with the same email i signed up back then…and that email doesnt even exist anymore lol.

    Reply

    • Thanks for your comment! I was just listing that feature as the last one of note in my post and not meaning to indicate that a desktop feature had finally been released. I can see where that wasn’t clear! Isn’t Pandora fantastic? 🙂

      Reply

      • gotcha….:) And thanks for the reviews on Pandora ONE, Very helpful since i workout with it and hate the commercials….especially the ones about depression medication blla blla lol….I just wish i could talk back to them and say “Can’t you see I am working out and obviously not depressed” LOL

        Reply

  5. I usually use pandora at work just for some background noise, so I usually like to start with some nice classical music. I think I started my most recent station with Brandenburg Concerto #3 a couple weeks ago.

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  6. I’d create one w/the weird cross-section of music that I love — some 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s etc – I love lots of DIFFERENT music, not just 1 type!!! Thanks for the chance….

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  18. My favorite is the one I created with Disney songs, Broadway, Hip-Hop, Rock, and Country (yes, I know it’s a weird mix).

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  20. I created my own station based on music from Muse. I’ve had the station for years so it’s tailored exactly to the music I like and it’s amazing!

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  34. I would like to create a Pandora station that played a sort of historical playlist of the roots of Rock and Roll, like old Blues and Rockabilly.

    chrisdeglen(at)gmail(dot)com

    Reply

  57. We have been loving the Pandora Christmas station this month — and we enjoy music by Stevie R. Vaughn and similiar artists, just love how you can do that. 🙂

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  58. My favorite station is the Hall & Oates channel 🙂
    Tried to delete my previous comment bc I left out my favorite channel..but I don’t see an option to delete! Sorry !

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  61. My favorite bands lately have been Sick Puppies and Foster the People. Those are probably two of the stations I would start with. I can’t get enough of them.

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  63. I follow on rss feed for chrixxxforxxxx at gxxxx dot com

    I really don’t like this new rafflecopter form that doesn’t have a comment box auto placed for subscribing to email/rss. Could you please add it manually into your giveaways? I don’t want to be disqualified because you can’t verify the entry, thanks.

    Reply

  74. This weekend I’ve been listening to an “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” station and skipping everything by Bing Crosby. Thanks so much!

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  75. I would listen to the classic rock, or create my own station of British geezer rock – the Rolling Stones, the Who, and the Kinks.

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  88. I am listening as I am typing this my fave of course is the 80s rock hair bands…
    I miss the 80s music and everything about that decade so much so this makes me a little happy:)

    Reply

  93. I’ve never tried Pandora but I would love to see a radio subscription that plays new up-and-coming artists!

    Reply

  98. You can delete this comment but if you know the answer, can you let me know?!
    I can’t figure out how to change myself from Ct Gundy to kng above. I logged in originally as Ct Gundy, but I logged out and then signed in again with my e-mail but when I completed the form it changed from my name to my facebook name? Does it matter? Since the e-mail address is the same?!

    Reply

  99. I listen all the time! My favorite “I need to get work done” station is Phillip Glass (Classical) and my other favorites when I just want to listen to something good range from The Beatles, Chicago, The Turtles and The Association to Weezer, The Presidents of the United States, Matt Nathanson and O.A.R.

    Reply

  100. I listen to Pandora all the time, and my favorite station is my Classic Rock Station. For this station, I mix seeds of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, and Harry Nilsson to create the ultimate playlist.

    Reply

  104. I have created several Pandora Stations for myself. I have a Lifehouse Station, a Rascal Flatts Station, and an Il Divo Station. Love Pandora! Thanks!

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  105. Right now my favorite station is Gaither Christmas or Bing Crosby Holiday. But I listen to Pandora all the time, and I listen to a bazillion different stations. I LOVE the variety!

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  106. I created an Adele station that plays the absolute best music, though as you can imagine it sometimes takes a depressing turn.

    Reply

  108. I’ve created a few stations on Pandora but my favorite would have to be the one based on Fleet Foxes – it has a really nice mix of folk and indie rock that makes for pleasant background music at work and at home. Thanks!

    Reply

  116. Oh I love my Katy Perry and Pink stations for when it is time to clean! Also I have a sleepy music station for bedtime 🙂

    Reply

  118. I used to listen to Pandora every day at work. My favorite station at this time of year was one I created called “Folk Christmas.” In fact, I think I’m going to go play it now!

    Reply

  119. I listen to pandora on my computer, phone, iPad on my way to work, at work, walking my dog and at home you name it there is no need to listen to radio!!! All I do is type the artist that I want to listen to and it creates a station that plays songs by that artist and similar if I don’t like it I press the dislike button and it won’t play it again! Love it!!!!

    Reply

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