Spotify Invades America, Should You Ditch Pandora?

Spotify has come to the shores of America after dominating the music streaming market in Europe with 10 million users. It's only coming now because of licensing issues.

Now that's all squared away, it's launching a free ad-supported version (available only with exclusive invites), a $5 per month premium version, and a $10 per month unlimited version.

So should you ditch America's Pandora for Sweden's Spotify?

Spotify is essentially a music streaming service done very well. Its sound is high-quality and its software is fast and smooth. It plays music from your iTunes library. For $10 per month, you get offline and mobile device access.

Spotify also has cool features to let you share songs with your friends. Basically, if you just want the crisp sound of music in your ears on demand, Spotify is the service for you and beats out Pandora in many ways.

However, the one thing Pandora has that Spotify doesn't is the Music Genome Project technology, which suggests songs you like based on your history of preferences. Millions of users have discovered countless awesome songs using this sweet piece of technology.

Spotify does offer radio and recommendation services, but it's nothing like Pandora.

So which one is the best you?

That all depends on what kind of user you are. If you just want music in the background to pass your time at work a little easier and have it accompany you while doing chores, Pandora might be a good bet.

But if you just want access to specific songs whenever you want it, or you're a big enthusiast who has a group of friends who are into the same songs, Spotify could be better.

Think about the days before the Internet. Were you primarily a radio guy (go with Pandora) or CD guy (go with Spotify)?