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.
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.
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.
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!