There are many different streaming platforms for music these days, and so it can be hard to decide which one is right for you. For example, TV and movie streaming services usually have a certain level of transparency that music streaming platforms do not seem to intrinsically possess. This can be confusing because it's hard to know what the differences are between the different services.

This is most likely because the bigger video streaming platforms are constantly fluctuating their content and announcing these changes publicly. Plus, you are much more likely to actually see a friend or family member using Hulu or Netflix, as it is often broadcast in front of you, than you are to see somebody actually using, say, Spotify or Tidal. People tend to this more privately. And, therefore, the only way, typically, to find out if one music streaming service is better for you is by either word of mouth or actually signing up for a trial membership to one of them and seeing for yourself.

However, obviously, if you can avoid signing up for a trial membership, all the better, right? I can?t even begin to tell you how many times I have created an account with a subscription service on a trial basis, telling myself, ?this time you will remember to cancel before the membership auto-renews.? Of course, I never remember to do that, though. As a result, I have been stuck with paying for at least a month of a service that I have no interest in continuing to use. That is exactly how they get you. And precisely why streaming services offer trial memberships. They know that 99% of people are going to forget to cancel in time.

But what if I told you that there is another way to see which streaming service is right for you--and it only takes a few minutes? Because let's face it, none of us have the time to test out all these different apps and streaming sites to see if they are worth our hard-earned money. So, I'll do it for you.

Now that you know what you're looking for in an audio streaming site, the answer to which one is the best for you depends on your specific needs. If you want a music streaming site with lots of premade playlists tailored to your listening habits, then Spotify might be a good option for you. If you want access to exclusive tracks and live performances as well as music videos, Tidal might be a better choice. And if convenience is important to you, Apple Music may be the best option for you.

But what about those of us who miss listening to the radio? I mean, the good parts of listening to the radio. The thrill of not knowing what is going to play next. The excitement you feel when your favorite song comes on. The ability to discover new music without having to hunt it down yourself. If that is what you want out of a music streaming service, then maybe you will be best off with Pandora.

There is a high chance that you are already familiar with Pandora, as it is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) audio streaming platforms that still exist. And prior to the advent of apps like Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, Pandora was something of the go-to site for music lovers. It was truly one of the most novel approaches to music streaming when it first came out. And, frankly, most of the big music streaming companies that dominate the industry today wouldn’t exist had it not been for Pandora paving the way.

Pandora was founded in 2000. However, the website for the Music Genome Project, which offered a visual journey through your favorite music, looked remarkably different from the Pandora we know today. In fact, one could say that the very first iteration of Pandora was the website for the Music Genome Project. The site looked kind of like a family tree, with each song in its own bubble. Liking or disliking that song created new bubbles that grew out of the original one. From there, you could visually graph your listening experience, from artist zero onward. This is where the Pandora algorithm would eventually come from.