Pandora's Music Box
Posted by: Dan Prior | 22 November 2007
No, this is not a box to contain all the musical evils of the world; Daniel O'Donnell and the like. Pandora is actually a personalised internet radio service that helps you find new music based on your favourites. It is based on the research from the Music Genome Project, where musicians and music-loving technologists came together with the idea of creating the most comprehensive analysis of music ever. They produced hundreds of musical attributes that they call 'genes' into a very large Music Genome which helps to categorise preferences in music and therefore from understanding your preferences Pandora aims to predict what you would like to listen to.
With Pandora you start your new personalised radio station by defining an artist or song. From that first choice, when the track has ended Pandora provides the next track which it provides based on similar characteristics to the first track that you chose. If you really like a track or really dislike a track you can indicate the fact to help Pandora understand your preferences and become more accurate at predicting what you would like to hear. As its bank of music is much larger than any collection that you or I could have access to, it is a fantastic way of being opened up to new music similar to music that you already like.
For legal reasons Pandora does say it is currently for US listening only; and they ask for a US ZIP code on registration, but this is still an excellent idea and one that I hope will be able to be used legally for the rest of the world soon.
With Pandora you start your new personalised radio station by defining an artist or song. From that first choice, when the track has ended Pandora provides the next track which it provides based on similar characteristics to the first track that you chose. If you really like a track or really dislike a track you can indicate the fact to help Pandora understand your preferences and become more accurate at predicting what you would like to hear. As its bank of music is much larger than any collection that you or I could have access to, it is a fantastic way of being opened up to new music similar to music that you already like.
For legal reasons Pandora does say it is currently for US listening only; and they ask for a US ZIP code on registration, but this is still an excellent idea and one that I hope will be able to be used legally for the rest of the world soon.
Also see Video killed the radio star.
Posted in: Technology Creative Social
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