Getting bored with Last.fm or Pandora? Interested in exploring other internet radio options? Check out Slacker Radio.
Recently featured in several commercials for Verizon’s Droid, Slacker Radio serves as another fantastic means for discovering new music and enjoying radio. For example, I was pleasantly surprised to have Ril0 Kiley and Rogue Wave pop up in my Say Hi To Your Mom radio station (I hadn’t heard either of them for quite a while, and they’ve never popped up on my Last.fm or Pandora stations of the same name). I haven’t started to fully explore its musical offerings, but I definitely haven’t been disappointed yet.
Like its counterparts, Slacker Radio allows users to create customized radio stations based on either an artist or a song. Unlike its counterparts, it also lists recently played songs and stations based on genre, which is a nifty perk, and even offers a “Top Stations” section consisting of “top hits” and a number of genre-specific stations. Slacker Radio has also developed a number of applications for smart phone, portable, and home use, including the iPhone and iPod touch, Android, Blackberry, Sony Walkman, and a number of streaming options.
As someone who has been keeping their eye on Slacker Radio’s development (via their website) for the last few months, it’s nice to see that they’ve already developed a piece of hardware called the Slacker G2, an alternative to the iPod that syncs up to a user’s personalized Slacker music station using a wireless signal. The website also offers Slacker Radio Plus, which gives users the option of ad-free listening with “unlimited skips, song lyrics, mobile station caching, and more” for either $4.99 per month (billed monthly) or $3.99 per month (billed annually at $47.88). Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be necessary if the website’s layout was more user friendly and visually appealing, so it’ll be interesting to see where this goes. I also find it interesting that each track gives the user the opportunity to “GET RINGTONE” as opposed to the actual track, which is generally the case, but the website is still relatively new, so, again, we’ll have to wait and see.
For you more tech savvy users, the online store offers a number of Slacker accessories, including an FM transmitter and a number of add-ons for the G2. The store also offers an assortment of Slacker-related t-shirts and baseball caps.
The website’s forum section appears to be quite active and features a number of threads, ranging from artist suggestions to personal radio player feedback. This portion of the website appears to be well-organized and should be able to answer any remaining questions that you may have. Enjoy!
