Best (actually most stable) Android Music Subscription

[naurus]

Could the forum chip in and tell me their experiences with various streaming music subscriptions for android? I currently have Rhapsody and half the time it stops playing in the middle of a song (in perfect coverage) and moves on to the next one in the queue. It freezes pretty often as well. I've also tried Rdio which I loved until it started refusing to play songs even in offline mode. Are there any better paid streaming music apps that you guys have tried and don't crash all the time? Or maybe even some tricks to get rhapsody or Rdio working more consistently? Thanks!

 

[EvilMonkey]

I use Pandora and Slacker (the free versions) pretty regularly with very few issues.

Once in awhile Slacker will crash on me and tell me to "press play to restart station" but it's rare (It sucks when it happens because it counts as one of your music skips for the hour). Of course if I paid, I'd have unlimited skipping....

I can't comment on other ones.

 

[naurus]

Thanks for the reply. I've noticed that the free radio streaming apps are pretty stable but they really don't satisfy my lust for good music as I can't specify exactly what I want. Has anyone tried the napster subscription? I just started a MOG trial and we'll see what sort of stability that has. After that I'll try napster.

 

[asuwookie]

I have the Napster $5 a month service but doesn't work on Android without upgrading the subscription fee to $10 a month I believe. I have used the basic service by just browsing to the website. It's kinda messy but does work for a cheaper alternative. I'm not real happy with Napster UI overall and was thinking of switching to Rhapsody. I know the Android apps for both are always being updated so hopefully they'll figure it out soon. I thought it might also be a problem with network as I do have problems with other streaming music services from time to time but not as often on wifi.

 

[naurus]

Just to wrap this post up, I found that Rhapsody is the most stable, but Rdio has the best interface. Rdio's interface is pretty similar to the iPod: it doesn't offer you a bunch of info about the band you're listening it just plays your music. Rhapsody's interface is more about the info than the music it seems, which IMHO is kind of dumb. When I'm streaming music I don't want to wait for a page to load with a picture of the band, a bio, and other useless info, I just want my music.

 

[eye4ni]

Avid Slacker user here.... I pay for a plus subscription for $5/mo and it is well worth it. Great music selection, great app, and something that none of the other online radio services offer: offline caching. I am aware that Rhapsody offers offline playback for songs, but Slacker is a very in-depth custom radio station service with lots of options. For $5/mo you can cache as many stations as you want, and it refreshes them automatically overnight. Each station downloads 100 songs worth to your SD card. Great feature, puts it way ahead of Pandora IMO.

I am also a beta tester for Slacker, and I am probably not allowed to give many details on this, but I am testing the upcoming release right now, which offers on-demand streaming and offline caching. Pick your favorite songs/artists and store them all to your SD card, it is kind of like Rhapsody in this respect, but considering how much time I have in fine-tuning all of my Slacker stations, I am thrilled to be able to also get on-demand listening from within the same app. I have heard that the on-demand (premium) subscription is going to cost $10/mo, but for unlimited song downloads and great customized radio stations, it is well worth it to me...

 

[naurus]

eye4ni, that sounds really useful. When it comes out maybe I'll give it a go. I'm ready to throw a bunch of money at this as long as it's cheaper than buying mp3s because I really love my music and as a musician myself I hate pirating.

 

[bigk]

Sirus or XM Radio (same company) are both great but you have to have a subscription and pay for the service. They have a app for the android phone and all you got to do is pay for the "online" only subscription. I don't have the online version at the moment, I have the subscription with the physical radio but the content is the same.

 

[spark032207#WN]

I haven't had too much trouble with MOG..

 

[takeshi]

I currently have Rhapsody and half the time it stops playing in the middle of a song (in perfect coverage) and moves on to the next one in the queue.

Be aware that coverage is only one link in the chain. You can have good coverage but with a congested tower, etc.

 

[ClassaN0va]

I have a pandora plus account and rarely use it.. But it's good for those days I dont lug around my ipod.Even though I wish for unlimited skips..

 

[adamnmurad]

I'm a Thumbplay devotee. I'd give that a shot if you haven't already. I've tried pretty much all the streaming apps and it's been my favorite.