Pandora vs Last.FM

Pandora and Last.FM are two Internet radio services that have gained popularity with many users. The main differences between Pandora and Last.FM are how they determine what songs the user likes. Pandora uses a set of characteristics which they call the song’s “genes.” Things like rhythm, tonality, harmonies, and lyrics are used to compare between the songs you like listening to and other songs in their library to determine whether you would like the song or not. On the other hand, Last.FM focuses more on the social networking aspect of music. It matches the songs you’ve listened to against other members to see which group you closely match with and recommends songs that those people have listened to. Since these services recommend music based on what you like, it may take a while before they are able to create an excellent profile of your preferences and give you accurate song recommendations.

In terms of who can use their service, Pandora is the more restrictive of the two; this is because of laws rather than their own choice. Pandora is only available in the United States, but they are trying to regain access to the European market. Last.FM is available globally albeit with certain restrictions. Since Last.FM can be used anywhere in the world, it is important to provide multilingual support. Currently, Last.FM is available in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, and simplified Chinese. As Pandora is only available in the U.S., it is not as important to provide support for other languages; hence it is only available in English.

Both Pandora and Last.FM are available in free and paid versions with the paid versions costing $3 monthly. Pandora provides much less for its free service with a 40hr. listening limit every month. Users can pay $.99 to extend it to unlimited for the month. Free users of Last.FM within the U.S., U.K., and Germany have unlimited access to the service. Those from outside the stated countries are able to listen to 30 tracks for free before being required the monthly fee.

Summary:

1.Pandora recommends music via its “genes” while Last.FM is a social recommendation.
2.Pandora is only available within the U.S. while Last.FM is available globally.
3.Pandora is only available in English while Last.FM is available in 12 languages.
4.Pandora’s free version is more limited than Last.FM’s.

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