Pandora Internet Radio
Lis’s brother emailed me about this website yesterday; it was created by the Music Genome Project, which I believe received mention in a recent New Yorker article about the present state of Muzak.
Simply put, the site asks that you identify a song or artist that you like (I went with Iron & Wine, because I’m a big, fat pussy); after confirming your selection, Pandora proffers selections that it determines you’ll also like, based on your original choice. You can “vote” on each song — with a thumbs-up, or thumbs-down — which will presumably affect the next song, and the one after that. The longer you listen, I imagine, and the more carefully you rate each song, the greater likelihood you’ll soon be listening to tracks that appeal nine times out of ten.
Pandora’s billed as free “internet radio,” and I’ve been listening to it as such: it’s constantly on in the background, and whenever I don’t like a song, I can start over with a new artist — rather than surf that stations for a friendlier frequency. I have discovered, though, that you can only skip so many songs before receiving the message, “Unfortunately, our music licenses force us to limit the number of songs that you may skip each hour. If you want to hear something else, try starting another station with a different artist or song.”
Which begs the question: why offer this service in the first place? Well, if Pandora’s licensing songs (which, apparently, it is), it’s with the express permission of the record labels — and why not? It’s a great way to present their artist(s) to an audience, and whatever metric Pandora employs, it’s likely that you, the audience, will actually enjoy their artist(s), and go buy their albums.
In addition, you’re eventually asked to register a user account. It’s free ($3/month if you can’t suffer the pop-up ads), but I can see them coupling with Amazon in due time. “Hey, you gave Wilco a thumbs-up? Why not click on the link, below, and buy Kicking Television: Live In Chicago?! DO IT, SHEEP!”
Anyway, it’s a fun toy, ideal for the workspace (you can even minimize the window). Like anything and everything out there on the internet (excluding this website, clearly), it could easily vanish tomorrow — so it might be worth a glance today.
(Consequently, you can’t “Google yourself,” so to speak. I tried. Unless, I guess, you’re a musician — in which case, how can you afford internet access in the first place? Are you stealing my wireless signal, you cheap bastard? I will find you, and I will do horrible things to your collection of Steven Tyler scarfs, and that’s a promise.)
