With the emergence of iTunes Radio, Pandora has some new competition. Even the Pandora CEO called it a “credible threat.” Bear Facts paired the two personalized radios side-by-side to see which one delivered the most relevant music based of an Adele station.

iTunes Radio:

“Hits”: “Someone Like You”- Adele, “Mercy”- Duffy, “Bleeding Love”- Leona Lewis

“Discovery”: “Down”- Jay Sean, “Story”- Maroon 5, “My Same 19”- Adele

“Variety”: “If I Ain’t Got You”- Alicia Keys, “Remember Me”- Jennifer Hudson, “Wake Up Alone”-Amy Winehouse

Pandora:

“Someone Like You”- Adele, “Stay”- Rihanna, “A Thousand Years”- Christina Perri, “Bubbly”- Colbie Caillat, “Slow Dancing In A Burning Room”- John Mayer, “Mercy”- Duffy, “Yellow”- Coldplay, “I’m Yours”- Jason Mraz, “Secrets”- OneRepublic

        The iTunes Radio stations included an overwhelming amount of ballads, even in the variety category. The “discovery” category fell short, providing songs from artists who all have recently had a Top 10 Billboard hit instead of up-and-coming artists. Some of the “discovery” songs also seemed far-fetched. Jay Sean includes pop beats and hiphop elements, while Adele has more of a singer/songwriter feel. The discovery category also played another Adele song, which isn’t discovery because station was based off of her.

        Pandora, on the other hand, has more experience with user interaction, as it has been around much longer. The app can better predict what a user will like because it has all the data for the songs users have pressed the “thumbs up” for and also skipped. The songs were varied, popular, and all fell into the same genre.

        The verdict: don’t delete Pandora just yet. Its relevant songs and knowledge of user preferences from long-time experience give it the edge over iTunes Radio.