Grooveshark : Does It Have Byte?

Pandora, Slacker, Spotify, Google Music...these are just a few of your many options out there to stream music to your ears wherever there is an internet connection. Grooveshark is just another player to add to that list of services...or is it?

I've been an avid user of Pandora with some Slacker thrown in there for good measure. The second I received an invite I registered for Google Music and Spotify. Google Music I used once just to test it out and haven't used it since (primarily because there isn't an iPhone app yet). Spotify I've used many times just for the pure fact that it was exclusive for a while in the U.S. and I was part of a select few of my friends who had access; which allowed me bragging rights.

I started using Grooveshark about a month ago just because I heard through the grapevine that it had a wide selection and a lot of people were wondering why it hasn't been shutdown because its use of every user's uploaded music amongst the public selection. Meaning: you upload your music, I can listen to it. This is great because then there is a vast selection of music on Grooveshark that isn't readily available on other services, but it's not so great for duplicate entries and bad music quality. Grooveshark isn't too clean when it comes to metadata since it's mostly run by the users and not governed by the creators. Don't get me wrong, there is tons of information flowing into Grooveshark's servers all the time and it would almost be near impossible to keep it all perfect, but when they don't have their #1 song's album cover art I start to wonder...

Now for listening on the go, they require you to register for their service and pay for mobile listening - but don't worry you can get a 14-day trial to test out all the glory that is Grooveshark.

PROS:

• Pick a song, listen to it.
• Upload your own music.
• Download any song for listening without an internet connection.
• Start listening to music without having to register at all.
• Social media integration.
• Take surveys to gain credit towards a Plus account (great for college students!)
• Listen in browser or via Boxee app, Android app, iPhone app (jailbroken only - kinda a con)

CONS:

•  Some music won't play on mobile app.
• Metadata isn't always correct. Missing album artwork.
• Radio stations aren't always correct (back to metadata being wrong).
• iPhone app crashes quite a bit.
• Not as streamlined and fluid listening (takes a few seconds between each song to buffer if internet isn't blazing fast).

Overall, I like Grooveshark and I want to love Grooveshark, but I can't because of a few hangups that come along with this unique music service. Hopefully they remove these tiny speedbumps because then they'd be the perfect service with limitless possibilities...or I would at least be able to an awesome Dubstep radio station that wouldn't randomly throw crappy punk bands in the mix.

Posted in: featured,grooveshark,music,stream