Staff Writer
Pandora- Pandora is easily the most popular music app of 2013. Pandora is free for the basic version (which includes ads and limited skips) but the upgrade version, Pandora One, costs approximately $36 a year or $3.99 a month with unlimited skips and zero ads. The app is easy to use, creating radio stations based on an artist, genre, or song. Pandora adjusts to your music taste by liking/disliking songs. Cons of Pandora: Skip limit per radio station (expires after one hour) and 15 to 30 second ads.
Slacker Radio- Slacker Radio provides users with free live stations and the ability to create custom stations based on songs, artists, or genres. Cons of Slacker Radio: Available only on Android products. Commercial-free listening and the ability to create playlists is only included with upgrades to Slacker Radio Plus or the Slacker Radio Premium subscription. Slacker Radio includes limited skips on the basic version (expires after one hour).
Songza- If you are having trouble finding songs to listen to, Songza is the music app for you. Songza offers pre-loaded playlists such as “Chart-topping Country Songs since 2000”, “Daughters of Folk, and “Mainstream Indie”. The app is 100% ad free, easy to use, and adjusts to your music taste by liking/disliking songs. Users are allowed to create favorite playlists to find the playlists quickly. Cons of Songza: Skip limit per playlist (expires after one hour).
iHeartRadio- iHeartRadio broadcasts over 1,500 nationwide live radio stations, including the genres pop, talk, sports, and reggae. iHeartRadio radio also gives you the ability to create commercial-free custom radio stations by searching a song, artist, or genre. The app includes a scan button to coast through similar live stations and a Discovery Tuner for custom stations to control how much variety goes into the station. Cons of iHeartRadio: Skip limit for custom stations. iHeartRadio includes ads on live stations. 
