There’s Pandora. And now CBS has jumped in to the fray with play.it. It’s all about control and all about choosing what you want, when you want. We decided to spend a little time with each and do a few experiments just because it seemed like the thing to do. We didn’t go terribly deep because we really want to hear your feedback on these two exceptional sites and services.

(Disclaimers: I have used Pandora for a number of years and have spoken with Tim Westergren, Pandora’s founder, on a number of occasions. I am also a big fan of CBS and what they are doing in the digital space. Just wanted to make that all clear up front lest someone thinks that I am being overly-biased one way or the other. Also, we haven’t included eRockster in this experiment because it is more video-skewed. We’re planing on spending some time with it in the future and we’ll give you some thoughts.)

Experiment #1 - 5 Songs

For experiment #1, I decided to program a play.it station with just one artist: Keane. OK, I know, that’s not the most adventurous artist. Speaking of “adventurous,” one of the options that you have when building your station is determining how deep you want to go with artist cuts. Having used Pandora for a number of years, I know that the Music Genome technology goes pretty darn deep and I was just curious to see where they stacked up when playing 5 songs with one artist.

Song #1 - play.it - “Bedshaped” by Keane/Pandora - “Bedshaped” by Keane

Song #2 - play.it - “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol/Pandora - “Politik” by Coldplay

Song #3 - play.it - (after a short imager) - “Simple Song” by Richard Ashcroft/Pandora - “Late” by Ben Folds

Song #4 - play.it - “Counterfeit” by Lowgold/Pandora - “Elevator Love Song” by Stars

Song #5 - play.it - “Yellow” by Chris Martin/Pandora - “Atlantic” by Keane

Conclusion: Pretty close to lining up. play.it seemed strong on the complementary artist angle while Pandora went in a slightly different direction, especially with the Ben Folds song. All in all, though, I really liked what I heard from both.

#2 - Advertising

Pandora definitely has a very rich brand experience going on with the skins on their player that rotates targeted advertising. When I clicked on to my Keane station, I got an iPhone skin. When I clicked over to Talib Kweli, it was for Tanguray Rangpur. When I hit Tahiti 80, it was Land Rover. I really like this approach because it does quite a bit in a fairly simple way. Plus, it just looks great. One other cool piece of the site is the Advertiser Showcase that includes brand-sponsored radio stations.

play.it is what could be considered a more “traditional” approach. On the site, it is all about subtlety. On the streams, CBS does a very nice job of promoting their stations and shows around the country along with imaging. I actually waxed sentimental when I heard a promo for The Playhouse in Portland, the show I produced 8 years ago. My best guess is that the advertising will change after the beta stage.

#3 - Cranking It

Both play.it and Pandora do well when its time to turn up that Phil Collins song you love so much. (Go on, admit it. You like Phil Collins.)

#4 - Did I Buy?

Yes. Both on Pandora and play.it. I just snapped up a nice little older release from The Album Leaf on play.it and I’ve purchased close to 20 full CDs off of Pandora. This is the best complement to the striking power of iTunes.

The Argument for Pandora

Pandora has the pedigree and the tenure. They also are constantly evolving their content. If they see an opportunity, they go for it and do it very well. Pandora has also done a very good job of merchandising their site with Facebook, iPhone (and other mobile devices) and the in-home wireless with Sonus, Grace and Logitech.

One of Pandora’s key strengths are their people. These are deeply passionate, music-centric people who care about the nuance of presenting music. Take a look at their history and you’ll learn that Pandora evolved from a group of people who gave music suggestions to friends and built it into a world-class experience. It doesn’t get much more organic than that. That same spirit resonates in their blog, which I consider one of the very best in the category. It’s always interesting, compelling and they keep it fresh. Adding the video element to the site is a simple addition, but it adds even more heft. Overall, it has a vibe that can be described as NPR for internet radio. It never talks down and it always makes you feel part of the community.

As far as other content, I like the addition of the QuickMix and I really do like being able to change my taste of the station on the fly with the thumbs-up, thumbs-down option. The artist and song information is more proprietary and flows nicely. It’s just enough to inform and give you that “artist crave” to dig deeper. Pandora also gives you an inside look at music festivals and programs stations around them. But what makes Pandora so special is the curated feel and populist vibe. It looks, works and sounds good.

The Argument for play.it

I give CBS a tremendous amount of credit for their digital efforts. The AOL/CBS Radio iPhone app is just great. I live in Portland, but can listen to one of my favorite stations, Dave FM from Atlanta. play.it is another bold move that should, both in the short and long-term become a powerful asset to CBS.

play.it is still in beta stage, but it has the foundation to be highly engaging, interactive and chock full of content. One of the aspects that is strong out of the gate is the comedy and talk product that is available. It’s kind of nice to shift gears sometimes and catch a little “Comic Relief.” The sub-genre categorization is very good, too. I found myself listening to more smooth jazz than I have in a long time.

Building your stations takes a little getting used to, but once you build your first station, it starts to become a little addictive. My first station started basic, but I grew the station by adding artists. You can also choose how narrow or deep you want to go with the cuts. This is very cool. It warms my heart when I can get to track 8 of “Pretzel Logic” and I don’t even have to blink. I do wish that I could do more to give the station more nuance on the fly but its not that big of a deal.

The blog is a little light, but that will come in time. I’d also like to see a little more adventure in the advertising space but that will also take some time and I hope it continues to remain somewhat more subtle than overt.

The Verdict

Playing the role of Switzerland here, I can say that it both play.it and Pandora deserve your attention. Pandora has built a world-class experience from the ground up while CBS, being a large broadcaster, is harnessing their assets and building from their heritage down. At some point, these two paths may cross.

The X-factor is going to be, not necessarily just the music, but the stuff around it. As of today, Pandora has done a remarkable job across the board while play.it clearly has a position that they will continue to build upon. Over the years, Pandora has made a powerful statement and continues to grow while play.it has done all of the right things by starting out slowly and rolling a slow boil before a more widespread public launch.

Stay tuned to both. Keep listening and see where it all goes. Oh, and we’d love your feedback on your experiences as well.

(2 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)

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