Pandora Internet Radio is definitely one of my favorite ways to listen to music. The service is free (with ad support) or you can pay $36 per year if you don’t like ads. The greatest part for me is that I get to listen to such a wide range of music without having to create playlists on my iPod. There are a variety of ways to get started with Pandora stations.
The first, and probably most popular, is to create a station by typing the name of an artist or song you want to listen to. To circumvent copyright issues, Pandora cannot solely play a single artist or song on command. These stations of like music provide users with a customized radio experience. Some people get frustrated here thinking they will get to listen to exactly what they requested but, in my opinion, this is where the magic happens. Pandora searches the Music Genome Project database for the requested music. Based on the ‘music genes’ assigned to each song by the project, a playlist is generated with the music you requested plus music of like songs and artists.
While you listen, you can customize your station even more by providing feedback about each song. Songs you like get a thumbs up and songs you don’t get a thumbs down. By rating each song, Pandora will either add more or less of that artist and those specific “genes”. Eventually, you get a station that plays only songs you like and allows you to discover artists you may not have even known about. If you really love a song, Pandora gives you a third option of simply buying the song or album by providing purchase links to both iTunes and Amazon MP3. A great way to build your music collection.
At this point, you can continue listen to and create your own music playlists, or explore the endless varieties that are created by others. You can search for stations or simply browse by genre and listen away. And for the socialites in the crowd, you can add your friends and favorites to see what they are listening to and share stations. Yet another great way to discover new music!
Now, the skeptic in you might say “this is great but I’m stuck listening on my computer”. Not anymore! With Pandora Mobile, you can listen to your stations ANYWHERE on your iPhone or a variety of other devices. Simply download the app and sign in and you are free to roam about wherever your wondering heart takes you. Just another step in our untethered lives. It also works great on the iPod Touch (of course you are limited to having wifi connectivity). I often times load the app, drop my touch in my dockable speakers, and listen while we cook dinner or clean the house. It is a great way for my wife and I to compromise on music by creating stations with artists we both enjoy. If you aren’t a user already, I definitely suggest you sign up today!
March 31st, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Thanks for pushing out more ad-supported music information to the World!
Sincerely,
The Songnumbers Team
(PS, we just launched BETA 2 of our site!)
September 4th, 2009 at 10:36 am
I really like the screens on the sony laptops but to be honest the price is the thing that shys me away from buying them. I tend to stick with Hewlet Packard now!