[Hidden-tech] Pandora's box--Better Yet

Ben Liyanage ben at smartankgroup.com
Mon Jan 23 15:48:04 EST 2006


I've been using an online radio station called www.last.fm recently.  They
have a pluggin for iTunes that sends every song you listen to to their
server.  They keep a history of what you listen, and make suggestions
without any additional input from you.  
 
For free they will let you listen to music that other people listen to that
have similar tastes to you.  
 
For $3 a month they will let you listen to what you listen to, what you've
never listened to but might like, and what someone else listens to.  I
haven't tried this yet as I have been quite satisfied with the free station.
 
They let you mark your favorites, and let you block music you don't like.
They also let you skip tracks you don't like on the fly, which is key.
 
http://www.last.fm/user/Menntul/
 
Ben Liyanage
ben at smartankgroup.com
410.336.2464

 


  _____  

From: hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net
[mailto:hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net] On Behalf Of Will
Loving
Sent: Sunday, January 22, 2006 9:15 PM
To: Hidden-Tech Listserv
Subject: [Hidden-tech] Pandora's box


Dear friends,

If you like to listen to music while you work on your computer, this is for
you.

I've recently been listening to a Podcast called "Inside the Net" and last
week's episode profiled an amazing free internet music service called
"Pandora". Pandora allows you to specify artists and songs that you like and
then it creates a free "radio station" that streams you music similar to
what you specified, often from artists you've never heard of. It's ability
to find music that I like is nothing short of amazing and you can have up to
100 "station" with different sets of preferred music types.

The key word here is "similar". Unlike Amazon and iTunes, Pandora does not
select things you might like based on what other listeners have listened to,
which is essentially a popularity contest and leaves out many lesser known
artists. Instead, Pandora has the host of volunteers that categorize music
on over 400 characteristics - there are 30 characteristics for vocals alone.
Each volunteer is usually a degreed music scholar or professional who has
also undergone an additional 40 hours of training with Pandora. Once
determined, these characteristics create a musical "DNA" for each piece of
music and become part of the "Music Genome  Project". When you tell Pandora
that you like a mix of styles that include Dave Brubeck, Big Bad Voodoo
Daddy, and Whitney Huston, Pandora will create a playlist of songs that have
similar musical DNA, whether the artist is well-known or not. Over time you
can refine your preferred styles even more by indicating whether you did or
did not like each song.

You can skip songs but you can't easily replay them, though if you mark them
as a favorite, they will eventually replay. Their library of available music
is expanding rapidly and they have agreements with most record labels. They
also actively solicit independent artists. The only requirement for
independents is that the music be available on a CD and have a registered
UPC code.

Pandora is available at: http://www.pandora.com
The "Inside the Net" Podcast episode (006) with the interview with Tim
Westergren of Pandora is available from within iTunes or at:
http://odeo.com/audio/584961/view

Will

Will Loving, President
Dedication Technologies, Inc.


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