I'm curious how Pandora compares since I gave it up many years ago. I tried Rhapsody/Napster Unradio because it's free with my T-Mobile plan but I absolutely hated it and finally settled on a combination of Amazon Music Unlimited and Google Play Music (included with Youtube Red). Mostly I find myself listening to Amazon Music Unlimited because I like its Android interface a tad better. Unfortunately they don't have an Android TV app for my ShieldTV.
For me, the compelling reason to use Pandora is their "Music Genome Project". This is a fancy marketing term for a comprehensive methodology for evaluating and categorizing music based on factors such as acoustical content, use of minor keys, etc. The tablet is the best format because it will give you a 2-3 paragraph explanation of why it selected a song based on your profile to give you some insight into how it works. I find it works very well!
In practice, what this means is, I end up with a custom "radio station" that is based on my preferences. The beauty of this, as compared to the typical playlist you would compile, is you are not confined to a stagnant list. If Genesis is among your chosen music and Peter Gabriel produces a new album tomorrow, it gets introduced into your mix. I started with Norah Jones and Diana Krall in my mix, and Pandora introduced me to Emille Claire Barlow, Heather Rigdon, and Melody Gardot (those are the ones I kept). There were certainly others that I thumbs down'ed, but those are forgotten.
So, here is my recommendation on how to experience Pandora:
Ideally (for understanding/learning Pandora) you would use a tablet connected to some nice earbuds or speakers. From here you create stations by providing some of your favorite music. Most people make the mistake of listing artists here, but I'd advise starting out with 5-10 of your favorite songs (but no need to list two songs by the same artist), It will list the different covers of the song and you can pick the version you like. The reason for selecting songs instead of artists is because some groups have gone through major transitions. For example, the Bee Gees had folksy ballads like "I started a Joke" before their Disco-"Stayin Alive" era. By specifying a song you are providing more precise info on your preference.
Now you have 5-10 Pandora stations based on your favorite songs. While I most often shuffle all stations, you might want to just listen to one for awhile to see what else it selects based on the "seed" song you gave it.
If you like a song, give it a thumbs up. If you don't like a song, thumbs down. This will allow it to further refine its understanding of your preferences.
Give this a week or two and see what you think.
Here are some facts/points about Pandora I would make:
1) Introduces me to music outside of my awareness but inside my "style" preferences.
2) You are allowed 100 stations (seeds) from which to base your music (not sure if pay versions get more).
3) You can shuffle play music from all of these stations
4) You can turn stations on and off. For example, I have about 12 Christmas stations I added to the shuffle mix that I will uncheck after Christmas.
5) One difficulty I have run into is I like Big Band music. I like the music of bands like Duke Ellington or Glenn Miller, however, their recordings were often made prior to the mid 50's and the recording quality is pathetic. So I ended up giving a Thumbs down to some good songs because I cannot abide the poor quality recording. I have partially compensated for this by adding BBC Big Band and Airmen of Note (Air force Big Band) who have only made recent recording of classics.
6) I suggested starting out with 5-10 songs so you can get an idea how Pandora works, but ultimately you would want to have several dozens of stations to give your stream a wide breadth of styles to mix.
7) You cannot play a specific song at any given moment which I believe you can with any other service. I use YouTube if I need a specific song right now.
8) I'm lazy and like having Pandora do the leg work, but if you like to manage your music at a more specific level, Pandora is not for you.
I hope most of that made sense!
Ask if you have any questions.
