Online music sites let you pick with a click

Music surrounds us all day, everyday. From company in the car, to the clubs with friends, background music while studying and motivation at the gym, music plays a huge part in our lives, especially as college students.

It began with the record, then the 8-track, then cassette tapes, then a CD, the iPod and now on our phone. The next step in the evolutionary process of music is currently making our way into our ears from online Web sites.

Pandora and Grooveshark are both two of the Web sites that generate music. Even though there are other Web sites that do the same thing, these two sites are each other's biggest competitors.

"I prefer Pandora," said Jason Almcrantz, a junior double majoring in civil and environmental engineering. "When I want to jam out and don't have my iPod, Pandora is the way to go; it's available on my iPhone."

Pandora is a Web site that acts as a radio station; you search an artist or song with a certain sound you are looking for, and a list of music will come up with the same genre. This is a neat feature because you become aware of artists and songs similar to music you already love that you may not have heard of.

"I think Pandora is more convenient because it picks songs that are similar to the music I like to listen to," said Ashley Glewen, freshman majoring in business. "When I am working on homework and stuff it keeps playing; you don't have to keep going back to it."

The downfall to Pandora, unfortunately, is that a single-search option is inexistent. Actually getting the song or artist that you are searching for is highly unlikely due to this restriction. The site also includes mandatory advertisments to listen to before your selected radio station is heard. There is also a limitation of 40 hours free listening time. After the hors are up, a dollar fee is required for unlimited music for the remainder of the month.

Another Web site, Grooveshark, allows you to search one exact song or artist, and the exact match you are searching for will show up. This is great for when a song is stuck in your head, unable to get out, until those tunes are twirling round your head once more.

"For me, Grooveshark has more to offer," said Jake Proudfoot, a sophomore double majoring in finance and economics. "I am a decisive person; I know what I want to listen to and Grooveshark lets me find the song or artist I want to hear, allowing me to make a good playlist."

With Grooveshark, there are advertisements on the side of the Web page but they do not disturb your music experience. If you want ads to fade away from your sight, Grooveshark charges a $3 fee to vanish them from view. There aren't any hidden monthly music limits and no extra fee. Click radio, and it's the same concept as the auto-play-type feature on Pandora.

"With Grooveshark, I am not subjected to ads or random artists I don't want to hear," said Jake Proudfoot. "If I want to be introduced to new things, I just click radio and it finds similar songs or artists to my liking, effectively making it as useful to Pandora."

There are misguided complaints concerning both sites. One objection to the site would be how repetitive songs are and the annoyance of having to pull the site up, while having other windows open, to change the song. There is a solution to this simplistic issue that just a little Pandora knowledge would solve.

"First of all, if you're tired of hearing a specific song, you can put the song 'To Sleep' for a month," said Lucia Willow, Pandora's communication manager, on the Pandora site. "You can do so by clicking on 'Guide Us' at the bottom right of the music player and selecting that option. You'll get a reprieve from that song, but your station definition won't be affected whatsoever."

An up-and-coming music Web site to giving present head-honchos a run for their money is Playlist.com. With related features like Grooveshark, Playlist lets you create a catalog for types of music to listen to.

"I have never really used Pandora or Grooveshark, but I do use a Playlist," said Lina Nardiello, a junior majoring in hospitality management. "Playlist is a site to specifically make playlists of music you like. Advertisements are never an issue and there isn't a maximum amount of music you can listen to."

These online music-spawning pages give listeners a chance to wrap themselves with melodies in a new way. Select a site and see how well it suits your fancy. Even if there are flaws, new music fabricating Web pages are in the works, and are revolutionizing the way people listen to music.