Thursday, March 27, 2008

I'm in love! What's that song? I'm in love with that song.

Squaregirl Marion’s post concerning Strut Records and its impact on her musical education got me thinking that perhaps there were some people out there who maybe hadn’t heard of Pandora Radio, which has been a remarkably reliable resource for me and my never-ending search for my (and your!) new favorite song. Spawned from The Music Genome Project, which was created by musicians and tech-savvy music lovers, it’s an online radio station of sorts that you are able to tailor to your specific music tastes. It’s like sitting in a room with a music savant. You start by telling Pandora a band you like, which will prompt suggestions of a slew of other artists with similar qualities. Genres and labels aren’t a consideration here, each song has been evaluated by arrangement, melody, lyrics, harmonies, rhythm. Tell Pandora what you liked, what you didn’t, how much more you want to hear certain things, or if you don’t want to hear a certain song again for, say a month. Like Netflix, the more you rate and how you rate dictates what songs are presented to you. It’s incredibly thorough and I have been introduced to some really tremendous songs that I don’t think I would have in my life otherwise.



Once you’ve discovered a bunch of new and awesome bands, make me a Muxtape!

~Sqg Eliza

2 comments:

squaregirls said...

I used to love Pandora when I had the office job. I made a channel for the Creation, I think that one was my favorite ever. Interestingly enough I *think* that is where I first heard Black Tambourine. Nothing would ever be the same...

Anonymous said...

Hello there Squaregirl Eliza -

It's great to hear that you guys are enjoying Pandora and finding it a reliable resource -- thanks for listening!

I love your "musical savant" description. There's a few people in our office who could safely be called musical savants, I will say. ;)

Let me know if you ever have any comments or questions I can help with!


- Lucia, from Pandora
[lucia at pandora dot com]