# Anything BETTER Than Pandora Out There? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2009, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823 "2009-10-31T06:28:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823/1 "2009-10-31T06:28:53Z")
I really like it, because you can program what you wanna hear and it will play that artist’s music for as long as they have rights to it (is that correct?) and then they’ll play similar stuff, but…they periodically interrupt the programming to ask if you’re still listening (“We try not to play to an empty room”). Well yeah, I’m still listening, but it’s on headphones (with extension) and in the bed, so I don’t keep my wife up, so every time it stops like that, I have to get my sorry ass up off the bed and click “yes”. I _have_ tried other internet radio stations, but they all seem to have those stuttering, aggravating, buffering problems. I’d listen to real radio “classical” music, but we’re kinda out in the boonies here and don’t get real good reception from our local PBS radio station. So what’s out there, that’s free and doesn’t interrupt? And oh yeah, they play that awful Wendy’s pig commercial periodically, but I don’t mind that as much. Thanks Quasi ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823/2 "2009-10-31T11:47:56Z")
You might like Grooveshark. [http://listen.grooveshark.com/](http://listen.grooveshark.com/) ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823/3 "2009-10-31T12:05:49Z")
You could listen to All Classical WGBH out of Boston: [http://www.wgbh.org/includes/playerPopStream.cfm?station=objAllClassical](http://www.wgbh.org/includes/playerPopStream.cfm?station=objAllClassical) ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823/4 "2009-10-31T12:49:22Z")
Have you tried **live365**? I have found some stations I really like there - there are A LOT of stations so you can find some pretty obscure or nuanced selections. It usually works well for me, although it does have annoying advertisements. You can pay a small fee to get rid of the ads. [http://www.live365.com/index.live](http://www.live365.com/index.live) ---
**Author:** ![Juggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/juggler/32/3194_2.png) [@Juggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juggler)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823/5 "2009-10-31T12:49:23Z")
I would say [Spotify](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotify) but it’s not free if you don’t want ads and use it in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823/6 "2009-10-31T13:09:19Z")
I paid for the registered version of Pandora just a few months ago. Really, $36/year really isn’t much considering how much I listen to it at work- and now I don’t get the annoying, “Are you there?” messages… or ads. I installed [Pandora’s Box](http://www.cfdan.com/posts/Wrapper_Application_For_Pandora_Running_In_Task_Tray.cfm), a freeware wrapper application that runs a minibrowser in your taskbar, and it pretty much rocks. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823/7 "2009-10-31T16:16:39Z")
> [@light\_strand](#): > > You could listen to All Classical WGBH out of Boston: [http://www.wgbh.org/includes/playerPopStream.cfm?station=objAllClassical](http://www.wgbh.org/includes/playerPopStream.cfm?station=objAllClassical) **lightstrand** , With this one, one apparently has the option of download, player, and embed, but on my screen they’re all greyed out and not functional. This is fine, I’ll just book-mark it, but I was just wondering: why the apps, if you can’t use 'em. THANKS!🙂 Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823/8 "2009-10-31T16:21:46Z")
And it looks like I’ll keep Pandora and GBH Boston. I did download the wrapper, **Lighnin’** , thanks, but it’s gotta be free or _very_ cheap, 'cause… [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0HEW5bXqKbU/hqdefault.jpg "The Kinks - Low Budget") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HEW5bXqKbU) Thanks, everyone! Quasi 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823/9 "2009-10-31T16:48:51Z")
Quasimodem - you might get some joy out of the CBC Radio 2 Classical and Jazz streaming programs. Available from [this page](http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/channels/) ; look for “Music Channels”. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823/10 "2009-10-31T17:02:36Z")
[Slacker.com](http://Slacker.com) is another service sort of like Pandora. I don’t know if it is better or worse, but you could check it out…TRM ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823/11 "2009-11-01T20:02:48Z")
iTunes. It’s not just for playing MP3s; there’s also streaming radio. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823/12 "2009-11-02T04:40:10Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > Quasimodem - you might get some joy out of the CBC Radio 2 Classical and Jazz streaming programs. Available from [this page](http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/channels/) ; look for “Music Channels”. Got it playing right now, **LMdl-d** (Guess I need to figure out another way to shorten your nick without offending you!:)) a nice alternate to GBH, thank you. Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823/13 "2009-11-02T14:13:57Z")
I’m listening to RadioParadise. Not a lot of classical music, but they do play some. It’s a great station with about 10 seconds of DJ interjection every hour. It’s da shit. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823/14 "2009-11-03T04:15:54Z")
Maybe a wireless mouse that you could move to the nightstand while you’re in bed? Not free, but quite handy for more than just listening to the radio. I use mine from the couch to watch Netflix. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823/15 "2009-11-03T06:40:36Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > I’d listen to real radio “classical” music, but we’re kinda out in the boonies here and don’t get real good reception from our local PBS radio station. PBS is a television network. You probably mean National Public Radio. Here’s a selection of [live streams from NPR stations](http://www.npr.org/templates/websites/musicstreams.php?t=10003). ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-better-than-pandora-out-there/515823/16 "2009-11-03T17:58:42Z")
Right of coure. I meant NPR. Related question: “The longer you audio-stream a site (such as GBH - I listen all night on the headphones -even sleeping), the longer…what?” 1. The longer your screen freezes up when you try to minimize out? That’s the only one I could come up with, because it’s the one that keeps happening, even with no other windows open. Thanks Q