Dueling Apps: Pandora vs. Last.fm, Round Seven: Prince
My best iPhone music app experiences are currently with Pandora and Last.fm. I downloaded Pandora almost instantly once I got the phone, but I was pointed to Last.fm by a friend two weeks ago and since the two services are fairly similar in format and functionality, I decided it would be interesting to take one artist each day and build stations for them on the individual services. I will list the first 10 songs Pandora and Last.fm deliver for each artist, and then assess which service offered the best response.
Today, it’s Pandora versus Last.fm in the world series of love.
Last.fm, take us around the world in a day:
1. Vanity 6, “Pretty Mess.”
2. Prince and the New Power Generation, “Damn U.”
3. Prince and the Revolution, “When Doves Cry.”
4. Prince, “Diamonds and Pearls.”
5. Chaka Khan, “I Feel For You.”
6. The Family, “The Screams of Passion.”
7. Funkadelic, “Maggot Brain.”
8. Prince, “Gett Off.”
9. Prince and the New Power Generation, “The Morning Papers.”
10. Parliament, “Funky Woman.”
Pro: With only two exceptions — both Parliament and Funkadelic — everything on this list has a Paisley Park address — and don’t forget, even George Clinton had Paisley Park in his heart as a member of the roster for 1989’s The Cinderella Theory, so this fits. I cannot believe it, but this is probably the most parochial playlist Last.fm has ever generated. It’s nearly all P.R. Nelson — if U love Prince, Last.fm is 4 U.
Con: But, it’s not all quality Prince — Susanna Melvoin’s The Family and Vanity 6 will never make anyone’s collection of essentials, and my eyes always glaze slightly when I see the words “new,” “power” and “generation” grouped together.
Pandora, Take Me With U:
1. Prince, “Let’s Go Crazy.”
2. Michael Jackson, “Off the Wall.”
3. Lenny Kravitz, “It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over.”
4. Marvin Gaye, “Got To Give It Up, Part 1.”
5. Prince, “Kiss.”
6. Janet Jackson, “When I Think of You.”
7. Earth Wind & Fire, “September.”
8. Carl Carlton, “She’s a Bad Mama Jama.”
9. Michael Jackson, “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.”
10. Prince, “Somewhere Here On Earth.”
Pro: Here, we get a sense of both Prince’s influence and his influences — no Kravitz without Prince, and I would even argue no Janet Jackson without Prince — more important to her career than her own older brother. Solid, but not enough to set off a housequake.
Con: That last Prince track was from Planet Earth, a 2007 release that almost everyone has forgotten already, and Carl Carlton and EWF are a little stylistically off base, frankly. Overall, this is perfectly listenable but underwhelming, and on a personal note: if I want to listen to Michael Jackson, I’ll put on Michael Jackson. If I want to listen to Prince, which happens far, far more often, I do not want to listen to Michael Jackson.
Advantage: Last.fm, for pure Musicology.
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