I went to see my favorite singer, Hal Ketchum, tonight.  The concert was about an hour away, in a city that I haven’t been to in several years.  (While it doesn’t relate to this review, Hal was great!   He sings like an angel, and his voice fills the whole room.  He is the only artist that I know who sounds better in person than on his recorded album.   I highly recommend giving his songs a listen!)

Seeing that I am a foodie at heart, I wanted to go to dinner before the show.   The friend who attended the concert with me, who was also mostly unfamiliar with the area, had obtained a few restaurant recommendations from a friend that does live in the area.

Wanting to ensure that we had a nice meal, we made the restaurant selection after visiting Yelp and reading the reviews.   We ended up settling on the restaurant that had the highest average review.  (We went to the “The Avairy” in Swansea, Massachusetts.)   We ended up avoiding the restaurant that was closest to the concert venue based on its’ average and poor reviews on Yelp.

We experienced a good meal, with pleasant service and atmosphere.   We ended up sharing a pizza, along with fish tacos that had been suggested by one of the reviewers.   Both of us were happy with the experience; given the opportunity, I think that I can say that we would both go back and recommend it to other friends who were visiting the area.

Yelp is my go to app to find restaurants whenever I am in a location where I am unfamiliar with the restaurants.   I have always found the reviews to be accurate, even though I know that Yelp has received some negative criticism from some small business owners who felt that some of the reviews were biased or rigged.

Yelp does have reviews for categories other than food, although I personally generally use it only for restaurant reviews.   Other categories listed on the first page of the website include: nightlife, shopping, bars, beauty & spas, automotive, home services, health and medical, and local services.

For informational purposes I looked up the concert venue, the Narrows Center.   I found that the location had been reviewed and averaged four and a half (out of five stars).  I took the time to read through several of the reviews and also found all of them to be informative and accurate.

Yelp (iOS)
Yelp (Android)
Yelp Website 

A lot of streaming music services exist.   If you ask a handful of people who you know, you are unlikely to get a consensus of what the best streaming option.

iHeartRadio is one option; it is a popular option for streaming music or talk/sports radio through your phone or computer.

Part of iHeartRadio’s appeal is undoubtedly the cost; it is free.   It also gives users a choice of ways to listen;  iHeartRadio enables users to listen to live radio or customized, commercial free customized stations.   For instance, when I searched radio stations in Worcester, MA, I was able to locate 32 live radio stations that I can stream.  But I was also able to create customized stations for my favorite artists like Sammy Kershaw, Hal Ketchum, Alabama, etc.   (Obviously, I am a country music fan.  However, different genres are available to meet different tastes.)

While some users enjoy iHeartRadio’s ability to stream live radio, other users are no longer interested in listening to live radio.   For instance, when I taught freshman business classes a few years ago, I learned that college students no longer listen to the radio when I conducted a “mock” market research activity with the students.  They told me that live radio has too many commercials, and that they much prefer streaming a customized, commercial free station or listening to songs that they have saved to their phone or MP3 players.   I guess that the students taught the professor a lesson in this instance!

iHeartRadio Website
iHeartRadio App (Google Play)
iHeartRadio App (iTunes)