@spotify vs @rdio

First, I have to say; I love @Spotify.  I fell in love with the software while I was visiting a friend in London.  He just had all this cool trip-hop queued up, and occasionally I'd hear some Brit (named Jonathan) tell me about how I should upgrade to their premium version.  Other than those annoying ads, Spotify worked beautifully.  You could create custom playlists, fast forward through songs, and even sync it with your iPhone/Android.  Life was good...  Except for the fact that it's not available in the US.  Unfortunately, Spotify seems to be having trouble getting a Visa.  For some reason, the US record labels will not allow it to cross over the Atlantic Ocean, and well, instead, all we're left with are terrible services like Yahoo Music and Flycast.

In enter Rdio. I must say, although I still prefer listening to music on something other than a browser tab, Rdio has done an excellent job of making it easy to rock out while browsing.  For those of you who have never experienced Spotify, Rdio is a lot like GrooveShark but better.  For starters, you don't have the clunky Grooveshark UI -that occasionally cripples when you're doing more than playing tunes.  Don't get me wrong, Grooveshark has a lot of potentials, but it needs to ditch the design.  On the other hand, with Rdio, things work well.  Occasionally, you'll get some strange "Nginx" error, but even with a web server explosion, the music never stops playing.  Speaking of the music player, when I like is how the GUI itself is using HTML, CSS, and Javascript but they're tying all of those controls into a Flash player.  So even if you can't hear any music on your iPad, you'll still be able to see a fully functioning site.  Plus, now that Rdio is available on the iPhone, you can organize your playlists online, sync to your phone, and enjoy. Nice!