Rave ‘n’ Crave Wednesday: Goodbye Pandora. Hello Songza!

I may very well be one of the original Pandora users. I remember when Pandora didn’t have ads or listening restrictions. There weren’t any subscribers and the whole thing was just amazing and free. It felt like I became the poster child for Pandora. The ads, once they started, never bothered me. The lack of variety, after years of listening began to get on my nerves. It was like there weren’t any more new artists or songs to discover and I could never find the right music for my mood or activity.

I did a quick search in Apple’s App Store for “Radio.” Pandora, Spotify, and Songza all had an average rating of 4.5/5. I had tried Spotify, but couldn’t get past the annoyance of not being able to delete stations and being unable to save a list of stations that I liked indefinitely. I immediately clicked install for Songza and waited impatiently for it to download.

After creating an account, the first screen was a music concierge. It showed a suggested list of activities based on the time of day. After choosing an activity you’re given categories of different types of music. After selecting a category, you can then choose a preset playlist. You can of course choose your music by artist, genre or song, but people tend to pick music based upon their mood. It is a brilliant concept. I accidentally discovered that by swiping my finger up on the music concierge page (iPhone only), it’ll ask you to type what you need music for and then return a series of categories you can pick from.

When I walk my dogs, I usually listen to Pandora. I happily fired up Songza, typed “walk” into the concierge, chose the activity “Epic Walking” and then the category “Struttin’ Down the Street.” I burst out laughing when I read the playlist options and picked “Damn Right I Am Somebody.” In record time, I was laughing at the music and “Struttin’ Down the Street” like “Damn Right I am Somebody!” I had so much fun!

Apparently, I am not the only one who loves Songza more than Pandora. There are countless reviews praising its ability to help you pick your music based upon your mood. In the past couple of days that I have used Songza, I’ve been dancing and singing along in a musical state of bliss. I have playlists for working out, cooking, dog walking, gardening, and even being creative. There is a playlist for just about anything under activities including one titled “Looking at Pictures of Your Ex.” The designers of Songza did it with brilliance, an eye on human behavior, good design sensibilities, and a wonderful sense of humor. It is most definitely “the superdiva approved!” Happy listening and hopefully dancing! 😛