Rdio

Rdio (pronounced are-dee-oh) may not have the name recognition or the relatively lengthy history of streaming music sites such as Pandora Radio (Free, 3.5 stars), Slacker Radio (Free, 4.5 stars), or Last.fm (Free, 4 stars), but since its August 2010 American and Canadian release, it's managed to carve out a niche of its own for those who prefer social music discovery instead of algorithm selections. A recent overhaul brings a much-needed free listening option and a new interface that simplifies navigation while retaining the service's unique features. Rdio's a very solid service, but Spotify remains the Editors' Choice for paid streaming music services (the playlist-based Songza gets the Editors' Choice nod for free services).

Signing Up and Getting Started
Rdio has a varied pricing scheme. Rdio Web ($4.99 per month) lets you stream unlimited music to a browser and desktop apps for Windows (XP, Vista, 7) and Mac OS X (version 10.6 or higher). Rdio Unlimited ($9.99 per month) opens the door to unlimited Web and mobile streaming, as well as music caching for offline listening. Rdio Unlimited Family lets you add a second or third person for $17.99 and $22.99 per month, respectively.

Users create Rdio accounts by completing an online form, or by logging in with Facebook credentials. The previous version pushed the social networking angle as soon as you logged in by displaying a banner across the top of the page that read, "Before you start listening? Follow people on Rdio to discover new music." Not anymore.

Rdio now displays "Heavy Rotation," a collection of recommended albums based on artists you've listened to and the fellow users and brands you follow on the music site. Rdio will display a list of recently added albums if you haven't listened to any songs or followed any users or brands. You can play the individual albums, the songs within those albums, or songs from within "Heavy Rotation" as a whole.

A column to the right of the main content area lets you view the people or brands you follow ("Your Network"), or discover interesting users ("Who to Follow"). The "Who to Follow" influencers comprise music experts, record labels, magazines, and music-related companies such as Dave Holmes, Def Jam, The Fader, Spin, and Vice. Next to each company listing is a + icon that lets you follow the person or brand. When I clicked Vice's "follow" button, artists such as The Black Lips and King Khan and the Shrines populated my "Heavy Rotation" dashboard. You can also find and invite people from Facebook, Gmail, Last.FM, Twitter, and other online services.

The Rdio Experience
The dashboard displays a grid of album art featuring a mix of artists from Vice's music division?Black Lips, Clocks and Hearts Keep, Raekown, and others. Mousing over a King Khan album icon opens a variety of options that let me add the highlighted album to my collection, sync it to a Rdio mobile app (available on the Android, BlackBerry, iOS, and Windows Phone 7 platforms), add it to the queue, or share it to Facebook or Twitter. All of the options worked flawlessly. An option to purchase digital albums is in the works, too.

Collaborative playlists are the service's best feature as multiple people can manage playlists. You simply visit your playlist page and then check the box marked "Enable Collaboration." You then select which Rdio users can add songs to the playlist. This is a great tool for those looking to create party mixes.

Rdio for Windows is a desktop application that lets you enjoy Rdio without a Web browser. Functionally, it looks and behaves very much like the Web version, but with one significant difference that helps you quickly populate your music catalog: music matching. Clicking Match Collection causes the program to scan iTunes and Windows Media Player for music to duplicate within Rdio library. In my tests, Rdio Desktop recognized the Gorillaz tracks on my PC and mirrored the songs, using Rdio's catalog, in my library. Match Collection made it very simple for me to recreate my favorite music compilations without search for individual tracks within the Rdio library.

When you click a song, a music player appears south of the main content area. It displays the usual suspects?album art, album title, song length, and playback controls. Clicking an artist's name opens a page that lists their albums, songs, and user reviews. Visiting the album page opens a list of songs (along with runtimes), fellow listeners, the number of plays, and other information. You can add content to a playlists, or to "Collection" of your favorite songs.

Unfortunately, Rdio doesn't support song lyrics, which is a significant flaw for listeners like me who like to read along?especially to songs that are unfamiliar. It's easily one of my favorite Slacker features as I could view lyrics from within the app instead of opening a lyrics site (many of which are pretty shady). Worse, Rdio only has one Dirtbombs (one of my favorite rock bands) album available for streaming. It's unfortunate that the band isn't part of Rdio's catalog as it forces me to visit Slacker or Spotify instead.

Rdio streamed crisp, hiccup-free audio over my home and office network connections. Unless you're an audiophile, Rdio's sound quality will satisfy even when the audio is pumped through computer speakers. A pair of Sony MDR headphones revealed bouncy bass and a good separation of high and low sounds when I listened to the Gorillaz' Demon Days album.

Tune Into Rdio
Music fans who want a dash of social networking in their streaming music experience will find a lot to like in Rdio. It may lack song lyrics and a few of my favorite indie albums, but what it does offer?a rich library, very respectable sound quality, mobile apps, and collaborative playlists?makes it one worth consideration. Spotify remains the Editors' Choice in the paid streaming music category for unique features all its own (celebrity playlists, MP3 uploads), but check out Rdio if you want to sample a highly social service.

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