Songza

Last.FM. Pandora. Slacker. Spotify. These and a wide variety of other streaming music services let you explore the depths of your favorite acts and genres?typically free of charge with a premium for accessing more advanced features. Startup Songza joins these established players with a completely free, ad-supported service that focuses on themed playlists created by both Songza music experts and users. The fledging service has become one of my favorite online music services, thanks to its curated playlists and strong social features. Songza is our Editors' Choice among non-premium streaming music services.

Design and Interface
Songza sports an easy-on-the-eye black, gray, and blue interface that keeps the visual clutter to a minimum. There are a few visual ads, but I'd happily endure those as opposed to having my ears assaulted with Viagra ads between trip-hop tracks. You can sign up for a dedicated Songza account, log in with your Facebook credentials, or execute a search to find a playlist. Three additional options live in the menu bar positioned above the main content area: Music Concierge, Popular, and Browse All.

The Popular section, as the name implies, highlights the hottest playlists of the week, year, and those that are currently trending. The 20-track playlists run the gamut from the expected era-related collections (The Grunge Era) to wacky compilations (100 Worst Songs Ever). Browse All let me rifle through the 50-plus musical genres that Songza offers. I like the variety on display.

Music Concierge is easily one of the most unique features in the streaming music space as it presents music options based on the time of day. For example, Monday Afternoon features Work or Study (No Lyrics), Work or Study (With Lyrics), An Energy Boost, Easing the Tension, and Popular Genres. The Saturday Late Night options include A Sweaty Dance Party, A Nightcap, Getting High, Getting Lucky, and Bedtime. You get a choice of actual music genres after you click one of those options. From there, you can select one of three playlists that are tailored for that time of day. For example, Saturday Night includes the likes of Drop the Bass (electro and dubstep tracks), while Monday Afternoon features Safe For Work (contemporary pop-rock focusing on "female vocalists and sensitive guys").

The Songza Experience
I decided to pass the day with Feelin' Good in the '90s, a playlist of happy, up-tempo '90s songs. The tunes streamed smoothly over our office wireless connection. I could give tracks the "yay" or "nay" by clicking the thumbs up or thumbs down icons, and I could also skip songs. Unfortunately, I couldn't skip to the beginning of a track, which is a feature I've grown accustomed to doing with my Slacker Radio (Free, 4.5 stars) Premium account. Unfortunately, I couldn't listen (or even find!) individual albums, one of my favorite Slacker Radio features. Songza lacks lyrics, but it contains crisp audio that smoothly streamed over my wireless connection.

I did, however, create a playlist by clicking "Contribute A Playlist." The process is dead simple: You give the playlist a title, a description, and add at least 10 songs from six different artists. I quickly built a playlist highlighting the tracks most frequently sampled by hip hop producer (The Songs That Helped Build Hip Hop), and set it up so that others could contribute with tracks of their own. I liked the democratic curation, which gave me a more active role in what the service provides to its users. This is a feature that Spotify (Free, 4.5 stars) possesses; a feature that we'd like to see more services adopt.

Songza implements social networking features, too. I followed other users which resulted in the service updating me when the person I've followed listens to, or favorites, a song. This helped me discover new acts?for better or for worse. You can also comment on songs, and share to Facebook and Twitter. Songza displays a cluster of people who have recently listened to the playlist you're currently listening to, as well as recommending similar playlists. You can save playlists if you're logged in and click "Save Playlist."

Currently, Songza lacks a premium model, which would ideally remove ads and the six-skips-per-hour limitation.

Should You Listen to Songza?
Yes. Songza succeeds because it dares to be different and implements its features in an intuitive and fun manner. If you don't mind the ads and skip limitations, you'll find the service quite enjoyable, especially if you enjoy mixing it up with other music fans. Spotify is the Editors' Choice pick among premium streaming music services due to its collaborative playlists, the ability to import own music files, and more, but if you want an active role in music curation without paying, Songza is the Editors' Choice among free music services.

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