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Ask The Geek Pandora's Magical Music Box Every now and then I come across something on the Web that blows me away. This week I'd like to share something that I can't help feeling is the most exciting cross between media and technology since Tivo. It's called Pandora, and I have no doubt that you'll be as enthralled with it as I am. With Pandora, you build a deeply personalized online music "station," and you start with one song or artist. I chose to build my first station based on an artist I already enjoy, Snow Patrol. Pandora selected a song that is typical of Snow Patrol's style and began to play it. With a simple "thumbs up" click to indicate that I enjoyed the song, Pandora began to work its magic, finding music I would have probably never found on my own. Pandora is fueled by the "Music Genome Project." Since it began in 2000, the Project's musician-analysts have been, "listening to music, one song at a time, studying and collecting literally hundreds of musical details on every song." It is due to this research that I'm rediscovering music I've only brushed against before. With Pandora, incredible songs materialize out of nowhere. While brushing my teeth I'll catch a riff coming from the office that I've only heard once before, and I'll smile in spite of the toothpaste. Beyond the fond familiarity of being reunited with a song I had forgotten, there are tracks by artists I've never heard of, performing songs I might have gone my entire life without hearing. I often find myself running to the computer to find out who's playing, read about the artist, and make sure Pandora knows that it's come across another winner. The more Pandora learns about the music I like, the better the music gets. There's also the tangible satisfaction of learning why a particular song was love at first sound. When "Are You Nervous?" by Rock Kills Kid played earlier, I knew that based on my "thumbs up and down" clicks, Pandora had chosen the track because, "... it features electric rock instrumentation, new age influences, a subtle use of vocal harmony, a vocal-centric aesthetic and major key tonality." Pandora was right, and I've got a new favorite song. I've used Pandora on laptops and PCs, wireless and wired, over different speeds of broadband. Pandora has never skipped or lagged once for me. What kind of alien technology is this? I'm addicted. I'm in love with music again, only now it's on a geeky, personal level that's difficult to describe. Suddenly I've got that all-too-rare feeling you get when you buy a CD and instantly fall in love with every track, instead of just two or three (if you're lucky). Brace yourself: Everything I've described is completely free, but there's more than I have room to write about. If you try it, I'd love to hear from you about your experience. Links: Pandora's web site is where you'd expect - www.pandora.com Kevin McDonald: Writer and professional computer/network administrator. He lives in Amarillo with his wife and children, and owns and operates Definition Computers (806-236-9615). E-mail Kevin at askthegeek@definitioncomputers.com with questions you'd like to see answered in this column.
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comments about this story Posted: March 20, 2008
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