Adaptive Internet radio is all the rage these days for streaming music service subscribers. At least, that’s what you’d think looking at the top players. The feature, which was popularized by Pandora, can be found in Apple’s iTunes Radio, Spotify, and now Rdio.
Rdio updated its apps today with a number of improvements, including enhanced Stations, tweaked UI, and more importantly, a new feature called ‘You FM’ that allows you to listen to personalized radio stations based on your favorite and pertinent tracks…
Here’s your full 2.3 change log:
– New and Improved Stations. Lean back and listen to an endless variety of stations (based on an artist, song, genre, and more), each drawing from a catalog of 20 million songs.
– Redesigned Stations Player. Vote on individual tracks and pivot stations based on favorite songs in a redesigned UI that showcases album art front and center.
– You FM. Listen to your personalized station, playing a mix of favorites and related tracks.
– Various UI improvements and minor bug fixes.
Like other adaptive radio stations, Rdio’s new You FM feature builds itself off of your listening habits. This includes your input—thumbs up or thumbs down—previous tracks played, and it even factors in things like your Facebook likes and Twitter follows.
Unlike other radio players, though, Rdio’s doesn’t seem to work for non-paying subscribers. Spotify’s Radio feature, for example, is free with ads, just like iTunes Radio and Pandora. It’s interesting that Rdio decided not to go this route to bring in new users.
At any rate, I still feel that Rdio is an excellent choice as a music subscription service, and its iOS app is second to none. The update is certainly worth grabbing if you’re already a member, and worth checking out if you haven’t yet thanks to the 14-day free trial.
As usual, you can find the latest version of Rdio in the App Store for free.