Better be on the lookout, Pandora and Spotify. There’s a new competitor in the Internet radio realm! Last Friday night, while my roommate was getting ready to go out, she shared with me her latest obsession: Songza. After she gave me a quick run-down on the awesome features, I rushed to check it out for myself!
When you first log onto the app (or website), the homepage tells you which day of the week and what time of day it is. Songza then lists a few activities that coincide with the day and time. For example, if it’s a Friday night, it will give you options such as, “Pregaming with Friends,” and, “A Sweaty Dance Party.” Once you pick an activity, Songza gives you different playlists so you can choose exactly what you want to listen to!
In addition to the recommended playlists based on the time and day, there are several other options to make sure you’re getting the music you want to listen to. You can browse through specific activities such as cooking with friends, grinding at a nightclub, and walking through a city (perfect for us Pittsburgh-ers)! If you’re feeling a certain mood, such as celebratory, nocturnal, or trashy, there are also options for some great playlists for you! You can pick from various genres, including Christmas, easy listening, or Hawaiian. With all this below-freezing weather we’ve been having, who wouldn’t want to listen to some Hawaiian music while picturing oneself on a tropical island?! Songza also allows you to narrow down your results based on culture- where you can check out playlists from Grammy nominees, films, music festivals, and television shows. Lastly, if you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for in the activities, mood, genre, or culture categories, you can select which decade you want your music to be from. It goes back all the way to the 1920’s and is up-to-date with a “Today” category.
Similar to Pandora, this app allows you to give each song a thumbs up or down; signaling that you either like or don’t like a particular song. You can also search by artist and find playlists based on your favorite singer or band. Also, very comparable to Pandora, you can pay a fee to upgrade so you no longer have to listen to those annoying advertisements! However, from my use of Songza so far, I’ve noticed that there are definitely less ads than Pandora!
Songza is now my favorite Internet radio app out there. I can be such an indecisive person, and it take ages to figure out which song I want to listen to next. When I press play, I like to leave it at that and not have to worry about choosing the next song. With these extremely unique playlists available, I am definitely able to leave it up to Songza to choose the next song for me. While writing this review, I was listening to the “Today’s Pop Hits,” playlist. I didn’t listen to any ads and barely had to skip any songs! It’s like they know exactly what I want to listen to! The last feature that I discovered is “Contribute a Playlist.” All you have to do is create a name for the playlist and add no less than 20 songs, while including at least eight artists- it’s as simple as that! You can also choose to release the playlist or leave it private.
Bottom line: If you know exactly what song you want to listen to and don’t want to put full trust in your music-playing app, then Spotify would be your best bet. Songza though is definitely more personalized and allows for more creative listening options than other apps. Whether you’re going out with friends, shopping at a vintage store, breaking up with a boyfriend/girlfriend, or simply in the mood for some throwback ‘90s music, Songza has a playlist for you!