I have tried several music applications, but have found that the only one that I need on my BlackBerry is Slacker radio. The application can be downloaded directly from Appworld on your phone or from the website.
After you download the application you will see that there are several preloaded stations by music type that you can choose to play.
Slacker gets better the more that you use it by selecting the heart or dislike button when a song is playing. The more you use it and rate songs, it will play songs similar to your interests. You can create a station based on songs that you know you like, or use a pre-defined station and tweak it based on your likes and dislikes as you go. With the free version, you are only able to skip six songs in an hour and will have limited advertisements in between songs. If you use up all of your skips in an hour, you can switch to another station and you will have six skips on that station.
Another great feature available on BlackBerry, that is not available on other mobile applications is the ability to cache stations so you do not need to have access to the mobile network. I use this frequently at the gym where the reception drops in and out so the music is not interrupted.
If you select a station and press the menu button, you will see the Cache Highlighted Station option below. Once you choose to Cache a station, the next time you plug the BlackBerry into the computer with a USB cable it will load the music onto your memory card. You just need to make sure that Mass Storage Mode is turned on in your BlackBerry settings and the application will run automatically.
Once the stations that you chose to cache are updated using the USB cable, you will see them as available stations in the station list. I usually plug my BlackbBerry in once a week to update my preferences and reload additional songs.
The application offers Lyrics with the paid version, with the free version you can get an Artist Bio or Album Review by pressing the menu button and selecting the option. The application also integrates with V Cast music on my Verizon Storm so you can buy the song from V Cast if you decide you would like to buy. I personally don’t have a need to buy songs since I have a fully loaded application with the music that I like.
I have recently sold my Zune on ebay since I have all of the music that I want on my BlackBerry which I always have with me. There are some other good music applications out there, but Slacker works best the more that you use it when you personalize the stations, I also use it frequently from my PC when at home. With the addition of the caching feature for BlackbBerry, Slacker is at the top of my list of music players.
For more information search for Slacker on Appworld from your device or go to www.Slacker.com
