PandoraJam enables you to enjoy the popular Pandora.com radio service on your Mac desktop. Easily stream music wirelessly, record audio for playback on iPods, and submit tracks to Last.fm. Desktop integration via Growl notifications, instant messenger updates and keyboard shortcuts.
What's new in PandoraJam
Version 2.1 (649): Release notes were unavailable when this listing was updated.
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This is a GREAT program to listen to Pandora but it is NOT a great program for recording Pandora and importing the tracks into iTunes.
The big problem lies with the NEW codec that Pandora is using to stream music. As of 2007, Pandora uses AAC+ and streams at 64 bps.
AAC+ is a GREAT codec but unfortunately iTunes does NOT support it NOR can you add it via Perian etc. Yes, you can play back the AAC+ tracks in iTunes BUT at with POOR audio quality. All the treble is GONE. (iTunes can play back the AAC+ tracks BUT at a low 22050 sampling rate. POOR).
If you want to play back the AAC+ tracks properly (with all the treble at the 44100 sampling rate), you will need to use either VLC or Songbird.
Ideally, PandoraJam should have an OPTION to convert the recorded AAC+ tracks into regular AAC files (or MP3 files) BEFORE importing them into iTunes. It does NOT.
P.S. To my knowledge, there are NO easy to use programs on the Mac that will convert these AAC+ tracks into regular AAC tracks. (Audialhub, Switch or QT will not do it). But you can do it via the command line using the FAAD2 program which you can install via fink or darwinports. FAAD2 will convert the AAC+ tracks to WAV files. You can then use any Mac audio conversion to convert the WAV files into MP3, regular AAC files etc.
I love this app and after doing a clean install of 10.9 I came here to download a fresh copy just to find that development has stopped on the app??? If you click on the link to the devs site this was apparently done as a result of pressure from Pandora?
Anyway this software has been one of my favorites and I hate to see it go.
I just wanted to say how impressed I was by your product. I've used Jaksta, love that as well, but for the price I went with PandoraJam. Definitely recommend this product, well done developer!
This review sounds like a love-hate relationship, but that's what it pretty much is :-)
I felt I owed to increase my rating as I have been using PandoraJam for 6+ months now and it works like a charm. Records everything and gives no issues whatsoever.
The updates from the dev have been great, very happy indeed! :-)
I just bought "Jaskta" from a MU promo and it works like a charm with Pandora...dump this and go for that if you do not want to deal with lack of support this PandoraJam has.
Well, I have no idea how to edit a review I previously wrote, so this one will average the old one out.
In a nutshell, the program has stopped recording out of the blue, I have troubleshooted it every way I could and have contacted the developer. Replies have neen non-existent, so what others say here is true, no developer support whatsoever.
So venture forth and buy it, but be aware that a) it may or might now work b) if it does not work, your're SOOL and on your own.
Suddenly PJ stopped recording anything, I tried all troubleshooting and nothing. So I unchecked these settings:
http://screencast.com/t/hZqw6k8SAV
Skipped to the next song and it was recorded. Seems like a bug where everything I play, PJ thinks is already is on my collection.
Hope this helps someone!
I bought this a while ago and stopped my Pandora subscription so I stopped using it in liue of Spotify. Spotify sucks for playlists and discovering new music...really, and I have tried all their apps.
I came back to Pandora and was very surprised on the nice GUI improvements made on PandoraJam. It records like a champ, very easy to use, and I love the fact that shortcuts are aware system wide.
The only thing I would add is fullscreen tiger support, but other than that, this is one of my favorite mac apps :-)
Technical support is non-existent. I downloaded the latest version for use with Lion 10.7.2. The application does not record Pandora music. After following all help files at their website, I emailed them three (3) times.
Not a single reply to assist me with the non-recording issue. Regardless of price, if the company ignores customers, it is a useless product.
I love Pandorajam, love it!
And, thanks so much for the insight about Hear. My PJ stopped working two weeks ago and I couldn't figure out why, didn't have hours to chase it until yesterday. Found these comments yesterday, updated Hear, success!
Well, friends, thanks to the tireless support of Simon over at Bitcartel, I've got my PandoraJam working again. Apparently, the problem was caused by a conflict with "Hear", an app I just installed a short while ago. Here it is:
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/27310/hear
I really like Hear, it's pretty awesome, but I can't live without PandoraJam, so until the conflict is fixed by Joesoft, I've uninstalled Hear from my system. Unfortunately, it must be completely uninstalled for PandoraJam to work (use FindAnyFile or a similar app to locate all of the pieces; simply deleting Hear won't do). Good luck to you all!
And thanks again to Simon at Bitcartel for the excellent support.
My PandoraJam has not worked since the first major update/change of the program. I've gone back and forth with tech support at Bitcartel. They are trying to address the problem ... Growl works, Flash player is installed, Pandora's website works fine. The possible system audio hacks are not an issue.
PJ opens up ... but no album art shows up in the window, nor does any music. When I change stations, the Growl notification comes up, I see a quick glimpse of album art, and then nothing - no art, no music. Nothing moves on the timer bar, nothing is downloaded.
Sure wish they'd fix it! The funny thing is that it DOES work on my Mac laptop. Same version of Safari, same 3rd party apps on the system, same updates other than laptop specific. So I have to use on laptop and then share the music with my main Mac.
Installed the 2.0 (569) today on two macs 10.6.8 and last iTunes. The application runs Pandora fine but nothing get recorded. I tried all options and I have no sound hack on my systems. The only noticeable strange thing is Growl giving me a "on:null" on the song title. Any ideas?
Thanks
No idea why but the app won't load music anymore. Works fine on the website. I've re-installed the app several times, but to no avail. No idea what's going on.
The latest update (v2.0 518) added a number of bugfixes and now remembers your user login so you don't have to re-login at startup.
Use the "check for updates" feature while Pandorajam is running to get the latest betas.
Wow -- that was fast! Recording and iTunes integration have now been restored in Version 2.0 (502). Also, the album artwork appears to be of better quality (500px by 500px when available). Nice work, Bitcartel! Thank you.
It was fun while it lasted!
As you may have noticed, PandoraJam 2 isn’t up to par with previous version of PandoraJam -- features like recording and iTunes integration no longer work -- but these changes aren’t Bitcartel’s fault. Pandora recently switched to an HTML5 based player and abruptly dropped the old Flash-based interface; that’s what’s caused these issues with PandoraJam.
Happily, Bitcartel announced on their blog that they’re currently working on new versions of PJ and it will be a free upgrade for all users. They’re also offering a refund to customers who bought PandoraJam on August 1st or later. Nice! Thanks, Bitcartel! Here’s hoping the next iteration of PandoraJam is as successful as the first. Details here:
http://blog.bitcartel.com/
Pandora changed the formatting of how their music is displayed, so now the PandoraJam window is not large enough to compensate and I can no longer thumb up or thumb down music. You can see from the link below what I'm referring to:
http://img864.imageshack.us/img864/7452/pjamerror.png
A fix would be just lovely. :)
WOW! Excellent value! As a PandoraJam newbie, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and easy setup offered offered by PJ. It was a snap to setup my genre streams with PJ. Easy to use, stable and great sound, that's PJ!
I have been using Pandorajam for at least 3 years if not more. Well worth the registration fee. I have never had it freeze or crash. Loaded LAME and the quality of the sound produced is really good. I created a Pandorajam Playlist in iTunes v:10 and it captures all the tunes as they are played. The selection in DooWop are outstanding as well as other oldies from the 50's / 60's. No need to go to the iTunes store once you get Pandorajam - 100% satisfed with this software. Streaming music wirelessly to a sound system (requires Airport Express) will be my next undertaking.
Someone needs to update MU info to the current version of PandoraJam.
PandoraJam is a great app for Pandora paying users (quality 192 kbps MP3 recording via LAME). Unfortunately the current version (1.6) leaks memory like no tomorrow. No, it's not the flash from pandora.com as the FAQ alluded. Flash in any browsers or the pandora one desktop (adobe air) grow from ~100MB to ~150MB max. But PandoraJam's appetite for memory is unbounded, if you don't restart, it'll grow to 1GB within a day.
The demo nagging dialog actually serves as a good reminder to restart it :)
Want to thank Bitcartel's customer support for their quick response. Had the fix by the next morning and everything seems to be working fine!.
Thanks again.
I just installed it and although it starts my music, I have a permanent "Did you know about your Pandora profile page?" box that I can't get rid of. Can't resize the program box either so I can't get down to the bottom of the box, and, since it's programmed as a foreground task, can't get anything to work behind it, such as changing my programming selection.
The very top most part of the player is still looks cropped off in this version (when compared to the screenshot on the PandoraJam web site (http://www.bitcartel.com/pandorajam/features.html)). I still cannot see or use the "About the Music", "Share", "Account" or "Help" Buttons. Is the screenshot on their site simply outdated and incorrect?
I really want to like PandoraJam as it has great features over the other Pandora players, especially the last.fm scrobbling. (Although several of the preference settings don't actually affect anything.)
The performance is really making it hard for me to do so, however. Unlike the other players, PandoraJam pushes my my load average up to 3, 4, 5 and beyond, and routinely locks up my system if I don't minimize its window.
Anyone else having trouble hiding PandoraJam? I press cmd-H, the window becomes inactive, the application "next in line" becomes active, but the window simply does not go away.
Else, PJ = teh awesome!
When it's working, PandoraJam is fantastic. It's paid for itself many times over in my mind, by helping me discover new music and turning me on to new bands without the added burden of having to run a browser in order to use the Pandora.com service.
That being said, there are some quirks that you should be made aware of:
-Not compatible with ClickToFlash
-BetterPrivacy (Firefox addon) needs to be carefully configured to keep PandoraJam running smoothly.
-Flash Player's Settings Manager needs to be carefully configured to keep PandoraJam running smoothly.
-Little Snitch needs to be carefully configured to keep PandoraJam running smoothly.
If you're the least bit privacy conscious and feel the need to clean your system's cache, you're going to notice some weirdness as far as PJ is concerned. Tips:
-ClickToFlash. Turn it off while PJ is running; it's too much trouble to run simultaneously.
-In BetterPrivacy, make sure you protect the pandora.com folders and the settings.sol folder. Unfortunately, you'll also have to allow clearspring super cookies for the PJ app to run.
-Go to the Flash Player Settings Manager here:
http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager02.html
Follow these tips here:
https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcs4kx8q_21dtz8dt
http://blog.pandora.com/faq/
-In Little Snitch, Allow TCP connections (for PandoraJam) through ports 443 and 80 on everything PJ asks to connect to except: google-analytics, onestat, doubleclick, and beacon.
4 out of 5 stars because the dev is not very responsive to support questions. Nevertheless, Enjoy!
If you are not a Pandora One subscriber, Pandora streams the music in AAC+ (or HE-AAC) format. The NEW iTunes 9 is supposed to be able to play the new AAC+ (or HE-AAC) format.
But for some reason the AAC+ tracks recorded by PandoraJam do NOT play back as AAC+ (or HE-AAC) tracks in iTunes 9 or 9.0.1. According to iTunes, the sample rate of these trcaks is 22050 Hz (not the 44100 Hz it should be). In other words, all the high notes are lost.
I am not sure whether this is a bug in iTunes or Pandorajam. But I do hope the developers of Pandorjam find a fix or workaround.
Here are the release notes:
Version 1.4 (build 290)
What's new:
Fixed issue where on launch, loading the music player could take a long time
Workaround a Snow Leopard issue where closing or hiding the window results in stream of error messages logged with system.
Thanks for the update, Bitcartel, but the issue still persists: if "Tag recording with album artwork" is NOT selected, the artist and song title is added to iTunes under the same field (Name). Also, the album title is not tagged at all.
Workaround for users who prefer to apply their own higher quality album art is to keep "tag recording with album artwork" selected in PandoraJam, then manually remove the PJ applied coverart while in iTunes, and reapply higher quality album art with iTunes or the tagging app of your choice.
Still no 64bit love either :(
When "Tag recording with album artwork" is NOT selected, the artist and song title is added to iTunes under the same field (Name). Also, the album title is not tagged at all.
Anyone else having this issue?
After months of flawless performance, PandoraJam is giving me problems.
1. Does not auto load my user account and stations unless I specifically open Pandora.com via my browser (Firefox or Safari) and sign into the pandora.com website first. I then have to close the browser and re-open PJ. If I don't login via the browser first, PJ stays in the "new user" state and doesn't respond to attempts to login from within the program. Very annoying!
2. Song and artist info are garbled together in the “Song” field in iTunes; this makes it necessary to manually edit each recorded item and separately download cover art too. Ugh!
3. Sometime iTunes will not auto open even if the songs from PJ are set to auto record.
4. App does not respond to clicks on the menu (i.e. thumbs up, thumbs down, skip song, etc.).
5. Tons of errors in Console (but that's nothing new; previously I just ignored them because the app worked fine). Ex. 8/3/09 2:49:52 PM PandoraJam[5113] *** -[WebHTMLView sendNullEvent]: unrecognized selector sent to instance 0xd849db0 or 8/3/09 3:01:09 PM [0x0-0x24d24d].com.bitcartel.pandorajam[5248] AtomicParsley: option `--genre' requires an argument.
All of these things used to work properly prior to this version. I do not have a PandoraOne account and wonder if these bugs are due to the implementation of new features for PandoraOne users.
I wish I'd kept my previous version. Does anyone know where to download the older, more stable versions?
I've tried several other Pandora apps including the official Pandora program and while they all worked well, I like PandoraJam the best. Basically they all do the same things... recording to iTunes is frosting. Well worth the $15.
Some recent updates to PandoraJam..
* Pandora One support. If user is a subscriber to Pandora One, recordings are high quality 192kbps MP3 , exactly as broadcast.
* Genre tag is now set on recordings.
* Recordings are added to the correct playlist if user changes radio station at end of track
Pandora has also has an upgrade to itd free service. " Pandora One " service has a few added benefits - increase timeout increased from 1 to 5 hours, you get high quality streaming at 192kbps, no pesky advertising.
I had a couple nuts and bolts questions for the Pandorajam developer - he answered my inquiry in one hour and five minutes.
This application pays for it self in the first half hour of down loads, which go right on to your iPod or iPhone - a BIG savings here.
Pandorajam is also supported in Growl, another nice touch.
This is probably the the first Mac application that has put money IN my pocket, with no more $$$ going toward iTunes.
a true 5 star application for your Mac, you really need to register this software - it's money in your pocket.
This is a GREAT program to listen to Pandora but it is NOT a great program for recording Pandora and importing the tracks into iTunes.
The big problem lies with the NEW codec that Pandora is using to stream music. As of 2007, Pandora uses AAC+ and streams at 64 bps.
AAC+ is a GREAT codec but unfortunately iTunes does NOT support it NOR can you add it via Perian etc. Yes, you can play back the AAC+ tracks in iTunes BUT at with POOR audio quality. All the treble is GONE. (iTunes can play back the AAC+ tracks BUT at a low 22050 sampling rate. POOR).
If you want to play back the AAC+ tracks properly (with all the treble at the 44100 sampling rate), you will need to use either VLC or Songbird.
Ideally, PandoraJam should have an OPTION to convert the recorded AAC+ tracks into regular AAC files (or MP3 files) BEFORE importing them into iTunes. It does NOT.
P.S. To my knowledge, there are NO easy to use programs on the Mac that will convert these AAC+ tracks into regular AAC tracks. (Audialhub, Switch or QT will not do it). But you can do it via the command line using the FAAD2 program which you can install via fink or darwinports. FAAD2 will convert the AAC+ tracks to WAV files. You can then use any Mac audio conversion to convert the WAV files into MP3, regular AAC files etc.
this is a great app. it's very well thought out, has tons of actually useful features and basically makes listening to pandora viable and enjoyable. the keyboard commands would have made it enough, but add the scrobbling, the recording, the growl alerts, setting status on ichat/twitter...it's just killer.
This is an AWESOME program!!! I use it ALL the time!
Please DON'T stop developing this program.
Pandora may have to limit it's usage outside of America due to licensing laws out of their control.
But for people in the US this is an awesome app!!!
What's the use if you can't use Pandora services no more!!
This is what it said on the website:
Dear Pandora Visitor,
We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for most listeners located outside of the U.S. We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative.
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