Cybertainment: Raditaz offers a music alternative; A Better Queue helps movie-watchers
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Online music service Pandora has proved that letting listeners build their own song playlists pays off in ratings.
A music site, Raditaz, has entered the same market. This commercial-free streaming service has a library of about 22 million songs, so it's not like you'll be hearing the same old stuff over and over.
Users can create individualized stations based on artists they like. As each song is played, they can hit a like or dislike button to further customize their personal channels. Each personal channel can be based on a combination of up to five artists or songs.
There also are more than 200 curated channels, with a wide selection of mainstream and niche genres from which to choose. Some are divided chronologically -- as far back as the 1920s and as recent as the summer of 2012. And like the online music service Stereomood, Raditaz offers channels geared to what the listener is doing at the moment, such as jogging or going to the beach.
There's a Twitter-like scrolling list of top trending stations to chose from, including Lil Wayne, Mac Miller, Jimi Hendrix, Beyonce, Brad Paisley and Asher Tory.
Mobile listeners can tune in on the go with Android and iPhone apps: Both are free downloads.
Raditaz is a free service. There are two versions of Pandora -- a free account with limited advertising and an ad-free version for $36 per year or $3.99 per month.
It's pretty easy to get lost browsing for movies to watch in a Netflix account. A Better Queue merges two popular destinations for movie fans. This movie recommendation site merges one's Netflix account with recommendations from Rotten Tomatoes to streamline the what-to-watch decision-making.
Rotten Tomatoes rates movies on a "Tomatometer" scale. A Better Queue has a sliding bar that lets the user adjust for different Tomatometer ratings -- 99 percent for people who are only looking for great stuff, and down to zero percent for those who are in the mood for something so bad it's good. The user can hone the list even more by selecting movies made within a specific time range and by genre.
Links make it easy to go directly to Netflix and rent the DVD or start the movie stream, or to Rotten Tomatoes for more reviews and details on their film choices.
First Published September 16, 2012 12:00 am
