Dueling Apps: Pandora vs. Last.fm, Round Ten: Frank Sinatra
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.
StaticBlog concludes this experiment with the greatest male pop singer of the 20th century.
Last.fm, I get a kick out of you:
1. Frank Sinatra and Count Basie, “I Only Have Eyes For You.”
2. Sammy Davis Jr., “That Old Black Magic.”
3. Louis Armstrong, “Go Down Moses.”
4. Ella Fitzgerald, “Night and Day.”
5. Fred Astaire, “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.”
6. Peggy Lee, “Golden Earrings.”
7. Frank Sinatra and Count Basie, “I Won’t Dance.”
8. The Nat King Cole Trio, “Sweet Lorraine.”
9. Anita O’Day, “Them There Eyes.”
10. Rosemary Clooney, “Jingle Bells.”
Pro: Last.fm got into the jazz side of the Sinatra spectrum with the Louis Armstong and Ella Fitzgerald tracks, offered two choice cuts from Frank’s work with Basie, and that Anita O’Day song is a killer.
Con: Astaire was a dancer first, an actor second and a singer third. I’ve always contended that Astaire was a competent but unexceptional singer who was prodded into singing by the studio system, much in the same way that Disney makes all its teen stars act, sing and dance no matter their actual skills in those fields. Beyond Astaire, the list could go a little farther afield with their Frank material — the man released enough music to run 24/7 Sinatra without getting boring — and they just seem to be going to same Sinatra/Basie album, which indicates they might be a little light on their Blue Eyes discography. Finally, no Christmas music unless specifically requested. I love Christmas music, but I don’t want to hear it out of season.
Pandora, come fly with me:
1. Frank Sinatra, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin (Live).”
2. Frank Sinatra and Count Basie, “Fly Me to the Moon.”
3. Dean Martin, “Just In Time.”
4. Harry Connick Jr., “It Had To Be You.”
5. Frank Sinatra, “You and the Night and the Music.”
6. Ella Fitzgerald, “Isn’t It Romantic.”
7. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin & Sammy Davis Jr., “A Marshmallow World.”
8. Nat “King” Cole, “My Mother Told Me.”
9. Frank Sinatra and Count Basie, “I Only Have Eyes For You.”
10. Frank Sinatra, “Come Fly With Me.”
Pro: Pandora’s list is much more rooted in Rat Pack, and six out of 10 come from Frank himself, there is little to complain about here, plus they worked in some Ella, and that’s always welcome. And I’m not averse to including a strong follower like Connick, as long as they don’t include anything from Star Turtle.
Con: No Christmas music unless specifically requested. I mean, I’ll take it in a few weeks, but I want it all together, not mixed in with my normal diet. Also, they seem to have the same problem as Last.fm in that they’re pulling from a small pool of Sinatra resources, or it was just how this particular draw shook out.
Advantage: Pandora managed to swing closer to what people genuinely want from a Frank Sinatra station.
Tomorrow: The final tally
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Comments
“A Marshmallow World” is a Christmas song. Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDojaTFEP9k
I liked these comparisons of last.fm and pandora, but I couldn’t find your promised “final tally” anywhere on the blog. Without asking the question “Which is better?”, I’d really like to know if you came up with some good overall conclusions about the two services.
There is no Christmas music in the Pandora playlist. I am confused by the “Con” you wrote for Pandora.