If you know me, you know Apple’s somehow been involved in my life since I was a kid. First computer was an Apple //e, first time I saw a Mac (an original 128K) I was immediately fascinated. First learned to program (BASIC) on a //e. My household is Macs, iPhone’s, iPod’s, AppleTV, etc.. And of course, I’ve spent the past 20 years writing Mac and now iOS software. I’m well over the fanboy stuff (I don’t need to hang on Steve Job’s every word; WWDC isn’t fun any more; I don’t line up in front of Apple Stores when new products are released; etc.) now it’s just preference and a job. But I still find the aesthetic superior, and in general Apple does right with things.

But iTunes Radio…. not so much.

I do love iTunes. It’s pretty much my main avenue for buying music, and even TV shows and movies. I love the integration, I love how easy it is for me to find and get the music I want. So when iTunes Radio was announced, I thought I’d give it a try. I have been wanting another venue for discovering new bands, new songs, new albums, and since I can only take so much with me to the office (the phone only holds so much of my library), I figured this was another way I could have some variety during the day while I work.

So I tried it.

I created some channels, but the song selection was… odd. And it kept recycling the same songs quite frequently. These are “hits”? There are fringe bands with not even B-sides… maybe the C-side? And if this is supposed to represent the genre, I don’t think you know anything about the genre!

Oh, and if iTunes Radio is any indication, the only song the Scorpions ever recorded is “Blackout”.

I would try. I’d try some different channels. Try making my own with seeds and my own artist shaping. Sometimes things would look better, but then, it would revert and it’d be like it was before. The same few songs, the same few artists. It was getting, bothersome. This is not what I wanted.

Then there’s the advertisements. I guess Apple only has a few accounts: Nissan, McDonald’s, American Express, Home Depot, and Macy’s. Same ads over and over and over. I guess that’s good for beating a point home, but it gets tiring on the ears.

Let’s not talk of technical glitches. It may not stream. It might stream the exact same song again immediately after playing it the first time. You try to skip, and it might not skip it, or certainly that skip counts as one of your per-hour skips. Argh.

I’ve been trying to love iTunes Radio. I keep giving it a chance almost every day at work, and I guess I’m just an optimist about it, hoping that maybe today it will be awesome. But no, every day the same thing.

Then there’s Pandora.

I admit, I never used it. I remember when I first got my iPhone I asked folks what apps are the “must have” to get. Pandora came up. I downloaded it, saw it was some “registration” thing, figured there was a catch, and ignored it. Of course I always hear about it, but I just kept ignoring it.

But then one day while working I got tired of it. I vented to my friend W about it. We have both been trying iTunes Radio and frequently gripe at each other about the shortcomings and problems (Exodus’s only song ever recorded is apparently “Deathamphetamine”). W’s been using Pandora since 2009 and of course it’s the natural comparison.

So I tried it.

It didn’t take me more than a couple hours to see how superior Pandora was.

I started a new channel (Slayer was my seed). Added some other logical thrash bands (Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, Testament, Overkill, Holy Grail, Lazarus A.D., etc.), and it went from there. It brought up songs you’d love to hear, but a lot of non-hits that are still good tracks. Then it started to explore more, bringing in somewhat related bands, like Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. I would thumb-up many tracks to help shape things, and Pandora continued to try to explore. It started to try things like Def Leppard (old stuff), Led Zeppelin, Ted Nugent, Pink Floyd — which was my first “thumb down” not because I don’t like Floyd but I just don’t want it on this “station”. Then it started to come back into some thrashier death metal stuff. And it was just really good. Sure it played some stuff I liked and knew, but it also was expanded and kept things in the spirit of what I wanted yet explored.

I was pretty impressed, and it only took a couple hours.

No repeats.

No glitches.

No repeats.

No repeats.

An expansive depth of catalog.

No repeats.

Even the advertisements weren’t totally annoying. And I admit, having some targeted ads (by age, location, gender) isn’t that bad a thing. At least if I have to listen to ads, having semi-relevant ones are nice.

No repeats.

So sorry, Apple. I wanted to like iTunes Radio. I am still willing to give it a chance because obviously how it’s part of the greater Apple ecosystem is a huge benefit. And just like your maps service is getting better, but still has a ways to go to match the gold standard that is Google Maps well… you’ve got a ways to go before iTunes Radio matches the Pandora standard.