Dueling Apps: Pandora vs. Last.fm, Round Eight: Carrie Underwood

My best iPhone music app experiences are currently with Pandora and Last.fm. I downloaded Pandora almost instantly once I got the phone, but I was pointed to Last.fm by a friend two weeks ago and since the two services are fairly similar in format and functionality, I decided it would be interesting to take one artist each day and build stations for them on the individual services. I will list the first 10 songs Pandora and Last.fm deliver for each artist, and then assess which service offered the best response.

Today, StaticBlog shakes it up a bit by venturing into country with Carrie Underwood, who just released her third CD this week.

Pandora, play on:

1. Carrie Underwood, “Last Name.”
2. Rascal Flatts, “Feels Like Today.”
3. Taylor Swift, “Tim McGraw.”
4. Sugarland, “Want To.”
5. Carrie Underwood, “Wasted.”
6. Tim McGraw, “Please Remember Me.”
7. Faith Hill, “Breathe.”
8. Rascal Flatts, “Here Comes Goodbye.”
9. Kenny Chesney, “There Goes My Life.”
10. Carrie Underwood, “You Won’t Find This.”

Pro: In the Top 5, Pandora is just killing it in the pop-country category with strong tracks by Underwood, Taylor Swift and especially Sugarland, and there’s the Oklahoma commonality with Rascal Flatts.
Con: Pandora seems to lose the thread a little in the bottom five, when the tracks could find equivalency with just about any modern commercial country act. It’s almost as if the service ran out of ideas.