iTunes or Pandora?

One of the upgrades that came with the iOS7 update for Apple iPhone/iPod users was the new iTunes Radio. Did you ever wonder how it compares to other music streaming services such as Pandora, YouTube, and iHeartRadio? Well I have the answer according to an NDP sampling of 328 users. The survey was published in an article on Hypebot.com.  According to the article, of the 328 users, 71% reported listening to Pandora in the last week, while only 15% had used iTunes. YouTube was used by 43%, iHeartRadio 23%, and Spotify, Slacker, and Rdio had only single digit usage by the group.

These results surprised me because I have used all of these streaming services. I would have expected iTunes and YouTube to have higher percentages. What the article does not take into consideration is how many of these 328 users have an Apple product that has the iOS7 update.

Both Pandora and iTunes Radio have their strengths and weaknesses. One of Pandora’s advantages is that it is available to more users, not just one ecosystem as with iTunes and Apple. Users may have also spent years customizing their Pandora stations to get them just right so there is no motivation to switch over. Pandora offers an ad free subscription version for users who don’t want to be pestered with commercials while iTunes does not. I used to use Pandora but I felt that its stations were way too broad. When I created a station from an artist, it would play artists not even close to the artist I chose. iTunes Radio is convenient for Apple users. It also allows you to quickly purchase a song that you like. You can also create a station from artists and songs in your iTunes library. The songs they play on the station are related to the artists and songs you chose to create a station from. The frustrating thing about iTunes Radio is that it plays a lot of the same songs across EVERY station. It also sometimes repeats the same song that you just heard.

Everyone has his or her favorite of these stations but I don’t think iTunes will be putting Pandora out of business anytime soon. My preference is to stick with my iTunes library but when I do want to hear something new, as an iPhone user, I conveniently go to iTunes Radio.