Hacker News Reader

Comment by hospadam | Hacker News Reader

Has anyone tried Rdio? I've tried both services (as a paid member) - and I really think I prefer Rdio - even though Spotify tends to get more media coverage. Rdio has a web based player (huge for people that can't install stuff on their work computer). They also have an iPad app, and I find both of their iPhone clients about the same. I haven't tried either of their services on Android... but I'll assume they have the same feature set as their respective iPhone clients.

Rdio also has much better music discovery services.

All in all - I really want to know what the Spotify hype is? (I want to use the best service, so if I'm missing something - please let me know).

View on HN

I've tried both and Rdio definitely has much better discovery features, but I settled on Spotify for 2 reasons:

1. The ability to mix in my own music. There is still plenty of music unavailable to these streaming services, so I need to be able to sync and listen to my own mp3's.

2. Great desktop client. I just prefer client applications over webs apps when it comes to music. And the Rdio for Mac client doesn't really feel native - it seems like a wrapper for their website

While Rdio is definitely better for discovery, I prefer Spotify because of its integration with iTunes. With Rdio, I had to keep opening iTunes if I wanted to play a song that Rdio didn't have. With Spotify, it lists all of my local songs inline with their library, and I can play everything from one app. If Rdio added this, I'd probably switch back, but for now, I'm sticking with Spotify.

In addition, I can sync both Spotify and local tracks to my iPhone, so I only need to use one app on there as well, rather than jumping back and forth between Spotify and iPod.

That's a great point - and I've been using that feature - and didn't realize it until you mentioned it.

This is the main reason I use Spotify as well. MOG, Rhapsody, Rdio, and others all have this problem.

It's not so much integration with iTunes as it is the ability to import and manage non-Spotify music.

I pay for Spotify, and I'm disappointed in the selection and lack of "radio" mode. No independent music (AFAIK) is on there, so often older CDs of bands are not to be found. I find I have to use turntable or pandora when I want to explore new music, but when I was a mog.com customer, they had a feature for that already.

I tried them both and settled on Rdio. Spotify has slightly more songs, but it was the focus that Rdio put on discovery that sold me. They didn't just outsource the social to Facebook, which is a huge plus to me. The whole service/design just seems more considered overall.

Have tried both and Rdio is way better for discovery. I stick to downloading music though.

I've tried both and I far and away prefer Rdio. The site can be slow at times but the usability and community make up for it.

And the iPad app is phenomenal.

Spotify is available in Europe as well—Rdio isn't.

I prefer rdio. I prefer their UI and UX and haven't found much problems with their music selection.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com