One of iOS 7’s most highly-anticipated features is iTunes Radio, the built-in internet radio service that will now be available on all updated iOS devices. iTunes Radio is similar to Pandora, allowing users to create custom radio stations based on songs, artists, and genres. It includes Track Rating and your account becomes more personalized the more you listen because it remembers your preferences. Best of all, iTunes Radio is free for iOS 7 users. For those without a $25/year iTunes Match subscription, you'll still have to put up with ads after every few tracks, but the ads are noticeably less frequent than those on Pandora. 

Google and Xbox have also been making Internet radio stations popular for some time now, particularly after Google came out with Google Play Music All Access earlier this year. iHeartRadio, which launched in 2008, has climbed to a steady 45 million users, and Spotify, which came to the U.S. in 2011, also gained popularity quickly due to its social integration. By becoming one of the first internet radio services to allow users to connect their account directly to Facebook, Spotify was able to increase membership to 20 million+. Other stations like Slacker and Grooveshark never completely got into the online music wave, but still maintain around 4-6 million users each.

Pandora, however, is by far the most popular and widely used online radio service today, boasting 70 million active users and 200 million registered users. But this doesn't mean that Apple can’t catch up and gain popularity. Remember, iTunes Radio syncs up with all iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Apple TV). Taking a tip from Spotify, it also offers social integration, allowing users to easily share stations via AirDrop, Mail, Messages, Twitter, and Facebook. And unlike Pandora, iTunes Radio includes Featured Stations that are great for discovering both new hits and lesser-known songs.

Purchasing music from within the service is a simple, seamless process, as it is directly integrated with iTunes. The music library is also significantly larger than Pandora's, though there is one drawback. iTunes Radio does not yet offer any non-music options like talk radio, news, or sports, and there's no access to live Internet radio streams.

What do you think: Will iTunes Radio overtake Pandora as the #1 most popular internet radio station?