Pandora Radio is an online radio service provided by The Music Genome Project that will only play music you like.
New users first have to set up a free account on the site. Once you are registered, type in a favorite artist or song in order to create a new station. Pandora will then play a mix of songs by that artist and others that are similar to the original choice.
The program is designed to consider various aspects of a song as it plays new music.
“Together we set out to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level. We ended up assembling literally hundreds of musical attributes or “genes” into a very large Music Genome. Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song – everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony,” said Tim Westergren, founder of The Music Genome Project, in an article about Pandora.
The user also has the opportunity to give a new song a thumbs up or thumbs down, and the program will alter its next choices based on the feedback. If the user likes a particular song the program gives them the option of purchasing it through iTunes or Amazon.com.
Pandora is a convenient way for users to access music when away from home.
“What I like best about Pandora is that I can listen to music I like and not have to bring my iPod or computer,” said Annie Pepper, a nineteen-year old geography major.
It’s also a good way to diversify and expand your taste of music.
“It’s great because I find a lot of new music I otherwise never would have found. I also like that how feature a lot of obscure artists,” said Nick Bath, a sophomore chemical engineer.
The program is available to download onto select cell phones so users can listen to it on the go.
Don’t forget to check out other online radio sources such as CU’s own student run Radio 1190 and also www.live365.com where users can search for stations by genre.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Christina Donahue at christina.donahue@colorado.edu
