Pandora.com CLI

[pixel]

This is one I've been on the lookout for.
Pianobar plays your pandora.com stations from the command line. BYE BYE FLASH :D

There are some vague directions for various flavors of linux on the home page.

** Note: This should not be necessary in future versions of Ubuntu, pianobar was accepted into Maverick's universe repo.

I got it running on Ubuntu 10.4 with a little tweaking. I've seen some mentions of someone's random PPA having it but that's a little exposed for my taste. I grabbed the .deb files from github instead. (You'll need git installed sudo apt-get install git for this.)

Clone the repo from github:
git clone http://github.com/wendall911/wendall911-ubuntu-packages.git

cd into the new directory:
cd wendall911-ubuntu-packages

Find the latest pianobar by checking the dates, for me pianobar_2010.5.1-i386.deb was the latest. Then install with dpkg.
sudo dpkg -i pianobar_2010.5.1-i386.deb

If you need any libraries it will holler at you, I needed one library...
sudo apt-get install libao2

It then finished up the install by itself (I begin to love apt...)
Just run pianobar and it'll drop you into the player. Another great use for screen XD.
I think it'd be possible to make kerravonsen's screen script work with this but haven't got it yet...


It even shows you songs you've already favorited with a little <3

Type ? to get the menu.

Comments

[foxfirefey]

Oh my gosh I did not even know this could be possible but it sounds AWESOME. I bet it consumes SO MUCH LESS CPU.

[pixel]

YES, YES IT DOES <3 <3 <3

Video with some comparison: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpwgIzs1lGI

[sophie]

Hmm.

While I like the idea, I can't help but think this is probably not a great idea, as it's going to stop the ads too. Which, yes, are annoying, but they're probably part of what keeps the service alive.

I really wish there were something like this that was really, truly free...

[foxfirefey]

It's a great idea even if it doesn't have the ads if you (can afford/are offered the ability to buy) Pandora's paid option, though!

[sophie]

Technically, I'm not even supposed to be able to use it; I'm in the UK. I get around this by SOCKSing through my server in the US. Thus, buying a paid account is probably not an option for me as it'd reveal that I'm really from the UK.

(and no, I don't see it as hypocrisy that I get around this but not ads; yes, I'm aware that it's not kosher, but it's generating more revenue for them really, not less.)

[pixel]

I was a bit surprised that this app does indeed allow access without ads, it certainly wasn't something I was expecting. More motivation to purchase a PandoraOne account for those that can do so. TBH I was lothe to pay for an account because even with a 'Desktop' app, both Adobe Air and Flash are required and I've had bad luck with both in the past. I'd hate to drop the money and then still deal with the tech that I was trying to get away from.
I did spend some time this morning wandering around their FAQs and it seems it's not possible to 'donate' money without paying for services. This is especially upsetting as the fees that Pandora pays do go to artists (and recording companies.) Nor is it possible to 'gift' a paid account in some way.

So to non Pandora One users: please consider the consequences.

[vass]

Ooh. Can you use a proxy with it?

[sophie]

If you use tsocks, you can proxy just about anything. My personal favourite is to use SSH to a server in the US, using the -D option to open up a SOCKS server locally. I then point tsocks at it and bingo, any app I open using tsocks goes through that server and thus I appear to be in the US to the remote host.

Y'know, just as an example.

[edited: I should point out, though, that I've just disabled the ability of the Dreamhack server to allow connections of this type through SSH; on any actual multi-user server this should be the case really, so...]

[pixel]

Not sure how this relates to sophie's post as I don't ever use a proxy but yes the app allows pointing it at a proxy. (Check the man pages)