Years ago for my first SXSW, I downloaded a massive set of MP3s Salon had put together including music from every music act showcasing in Austin. I missed the music fest this year but didn't want to miss the music, so I compared my two favorite music services to see who could get me closest to the action.
First up, Spotify.
I searched for SXSW 2013 and got this beautiful list of playlists. The problem: I have no idea who made these playlists or how they are sorted. The only way to find this out is to click on the playlist image. That's a lot of clicking.
Verdict: boo.
Next up: Rdio
Ah, this is much better. Not only does it show the full title of the playlists and who made it, but I actually didn't have to click at all. Even getting to the Spotify screen above required me to click through to "Show All Results" then click again on "See All" next to the playlists that result.
Rdio is all, "Are these the playlists you're looking for?"
Why yes, yes they are.
Verdict: yay.