I’d believe either, though the latter feels tiny. Pandora is still better than any of the others listed for discovering new music, IMO. Spotify always seems too conservative with its suggestions, making it worse for discovering new music. Subjective, of course.
I don't think it's subjective. Royalties aren't paid equally, and considering Spotify is partly owned by the record labels themselves, it makes sense to steer listeners.
I agree, I feel like Pandora recommendations are far better than Spotify ones, at least for me. Spotify keeps me in my bubble, Pandora is constantly expanding it.