Back in June Spotify added a radio feature to their iOS app, giving iPhone and iPad users the ability to enjoy unlimited music on the go.  The only catch?  The radio stream is laced with ads, though paying Spotify customers won’t be bothered with ads and can skip unlimited songs.  As for those who use the free version, they can skip only six songs per hour and endure two to three minutes of ads.

But iOS users aren’t the only ones to get the radio feature.  Today, Spotify announced that Android devices will also have the radio feature, letting you create stations based on any artist, album or playlist.  You can also enjoy unlimited stations and songs, save songs to your Spotify playlists, and rate stations with a thumbs up or down.

Spotify’s been aggressively rolling out the radio feature for desktop and mobile users, creating an ever-present threat to Pandora.  But Spotify’s weak recommendation system still can’t hold a candle to Pandora’s evolved algorithm, despite social integration and a hoard of apps within its ecosystem.  It’s great that Spotify’s offering streaming radio to more users, but I still listen to Pandora and add songs to my Spotify to get the best recommendations, and I wonder if Spotify will ever be able to match Pandora in terms of music discovery.

Here’s three ways Pandora’s streaming radio is still better than Spotify’s:

Music discovery

With the launch of the radio feature, people think that the Spotify app will allow users to discover songs better, but many are already complaining that it doesn’t.  Music lovers can’t help but compare the feature to Pandora’s.  Pandora Radio is built on the  Music Genome Project, which uses a patented mathematical algorithm that scans over 400 musical attributes (like rhythm, tempo, syncopation, key tonality, vocal harmonies, etc.), to create customized “stations” based on a person’s music preference.

Song recommendations

When using Pandora, thumbing down a song will skip to the next, though this action won’t count as one of your three skips allotted for a 60-minute period.   Spotify, on the other hand, also lets you dislike a song but it won’t skip it–you’ll have to do that yourself, which counts as an actual skip (you get 5 per hour).

What’s worse, disliking a song on Spotify’s streaming radio doesn’t guarantee you won’t hear it again in the future, further weakening Spotify’s recommendation technology.

Self-sufficient

Spotify thrives on supporting apps, as in, if you want features that aren’t native to Spotify, you’ll have to download a third party app.  In this way, Spotify greatly relies on Last.fm for music discovery and other services like Discoverfy, Freshspotify, Lastify and a lot more for a comprehensive user experience, namely around music discovery and recommendations.  Well, if other services offer a better listening experience, why would you use Spotify?

Those are just some of the things that Spotify needs to improve on.  If you’d like to share your Spotify experience, feel free to comment below.