Grooveshark Alternatives

Kilgore Trout

As some of you will already know, Grooveshark has shut down for good. I used grooveshark at work everyday to drown out the sounds of a cubicle farm and am now in need of an alternative. The problem is, I am having a heck of a time finding something that isn't a "personalized radio station" or that seems to be only top 40 music.

My music preferences are fairly diverse and depending on my mood, I might want to listen to alt rock, or reggae, bluegrass or gospel, or maybe just listen to a few albums front to back. I don't use the "Listen to this Station" function because I find that I always run into songs that I want to skip, or that what I consider "cajun zydeco" is not what somebody else does. Having to stop to skip songs or find a new station throws my workflow off just as much as having to listen to a song I don't like so things Pandora's skip limit essentially make it a non-started for me.

I am always amazed at how fast H/A users are able to find exactly what people are looking for, so I'm hoping that somebody can suggest a streaming service that is as similar to Grooveshark as possible - that is to say NOT something where I set preferences and it guesses what I want to listen to. I want to be able to set up my own playlists and/or browse the catalogue by artist or album. Free is obviously best, but I don't mind paying a small fee so long as I am able to try it out and make sure it is what I am looking for before I subscribe.

Thanks in advance!

MichaelLC

Do you have Amazon Prime? The streaming music service is pretty good, with a mix of genres.
Haven't tried Google radio, you can try it free; not sure if a CC is required.

finnith

If you want to keep it free, there's always Youtube. A lot of stuff is on there these days and you can set up playlists of course

There's also rdio, which has a ad-supported version (as I'm in Canada, I've been a long-time user of their premium tiers, so can't comment on the # of ads). You can set up playlists and do all the things you want. Same thing probably goes for Spotify but I've never used it myself.

WiseManTobes

What , it did? nooooo , it's what I used for inside night shifts

MichaelLC

WiseManTobes wrote: »

What , it did? nooooo , it's what I used for inside night shifts

Yeah, they screwed up pretty bad.

Grooveshark CEO to all employees wrote:

Download as many MP3’s as possible, and add them to the folders you’re sharing on Grooveshark.

Kilgore Trout

finnith wrote: »

If you want to keep it free, there's always Youtube. A lot of stuff is on there these days and you can set up playlists of course

There's also rdio, which has a ad-supported version (as I'm in Canada, I've been a long-time user of their premium tiers, so can't comment on the # of ads). You can set up playlists and do all the things you want. Same thing probably goes for Spotify but I've never used it myself.

Unfortunately we have a web filter so I can't use youtube at work. I've taken a look at rdio though and it seems like exactly what I am looking for. Thanks! Now to spend the time rebuilding my playlists!

I'm also in Canada - any clarification on why I would want to go with the premium tiers instead of a the ad-supported version? I'm pretty much only using it web-based (not app-based).

finnith

Kilgore Trout wrote: »

finnith wrote: »

If you want to keep it free, there's always Youtube. A lot of stuff is on there these days and you can set up playlists of course

There's also rdio, which has a ad-supported version (as I'm in Canada, I've been a long-time user of their premium tiers, so can't comment on the # of ads). You can set up playlists and do all the things you want. Same thing probably goes for Spotify but I've never used it myself.

Unfortunately we have a web filter so I can't use youtube at work. I've taken a look at rdio though and it seems like exactly what I am looking for. Thanks! Now to spend the time rebuilding my playlists!

I'm also in Canada - any clarification on why I would want to go with the premium tiers instead of a the ad-supported version? I'm pretty much only using it web-based (not app-based).

The basic $5/month one takes out the ads, and gives you higher-quality streams (320kbps vs. 192kbps). I believe you also get access to the mobile apps, which at $10/month you can use to sync music to your phone for offline play.

I'll say one thing, the onboarding experience is a lot better than what it was back in 2011.

Kilgore Trout

Perfect, thanks for the insights!