You hear that sound of maniacal laughter? Hands rubbing together in glee? That's me.
I've finally taken the plunge and opened Pandora's box. And I LOVE what's inside! I've been reading about the new wave of Internet radio for a while. Tried Last.fm and it just didn't click. Partly because of software problems, partly because I don't want to have to build a social network in order to find new music.
But yesterday I finally took the time to discover Pandora and it's FABULOUS! The whole concept really draws me anyway: a group of experts has mapped out the genome for music. Basically they came up with a way to analyse songs and catalog them according to different musical attributes. And now they've gone through and tagged more than 400,000 songs in a steadily growing catalog.
The user enters the name of a song or a group that they like and Pandora puts together a radio station with songs based on similar characteristics. And the really cool thing is that you can rate songs as they are played to further streamline your station.
And the best part? It's free! Pandora has some advertising up for non-subscribers, but it's not intrusive. They're obviously hoping that you'll like some of the songs enough that you'll buy them via iTunes. Other than that, no obligations. The interface is very transparent and it's even polite!
Check it out and let me know what you think!
7 comments:
AWESOME, Bets! Thanks!
Love, Chloe
Love it! Wish I had more time to explore it in-depth...
Carol
Totally fascinating, B, LOVE it!!! Although I did stump them with my first selection, Mario Frangoulis, it did pull some GREAT stuff together for the next one! Thanks! PS, If you're an Andrea Bocelli fan, try and get hold of the stuff by Frangoulis, he's absolutely wonderful - oh and drop-dead-gorgeous ... sigh ...
"Seneca"
That's so cool! I'd had it bookmarked but hadn't really had a chance to explore yet. Thanks for reminding me.
I'd like to thank you from the bottom of my heart! Wow... I don't have to listen to french old songs anymore... They actually have a law for the radio in this country stating that every 10 minutes (or for every 3 foreign songs) they are obliged to broadcast a french song!!
Personalised radio - can it be better?!
Thank you!
Oooooh Astrid! *shudder*! I'm with you on that one. I don't know what it is about old French pop songs but I CAN'T STAND THEM! I enjoy almost all other things French but would go absolutely postal if I had to listen to their radio stations for very long.
Glad to have been able to save you from a fate worse than death...
Bets,
Pandora is the most fun web site I have been to. I will exceed the 100 radio limit within days.
Thanks for letting me know about it.
crb
Post a Comment