Earlier this year I was looking for some new ways to discover music. At the top of the list were four on-line services designed in part to do just that. I checked them out but will have to admit that it was difficult for me to invest a lot of time evaluating these services. That said, Pandora was the clear winner for me. I'm not suggesting that it's the best or anything but Pandora appealed to me and has since stuck. Pandora evolved from the larger Music Genome Project and has emerged to offer music lovers a wonderful free service. Pandora defines itself as: "...a music discovery service designed to help you find and enjoy music that you'll love".
Pandora is very easy to use. You simply choose an artist you like and Pandora will play similar music based off of data derived from the Music Genome Project, which has attempted to "capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level". Then, you simply give the songs that play an thumbs up or thumbs down and Pandora takes into account your preferences as you go, slowing changing and refining your profile for that given station you've created. Plus, you get to have multiple stations to appeal to your different tastes in music. I've been using it for a few months and I really like what my station is playing for me. If you've given an artist a thumbs down on a song, that song will never play again. Two thumbs down for an artist and that artist will not play again (or is it three thumbs down?). Anyway, you get the idea. In addition to the on the fly rating, you can add artists that you like to your profile and it will take them into account as well. Very cool!
I highly recommend trying it. Just go to http://www.pandora.com/ and get stated!
Now, on the the marriage of Pandora and Sqeezebox. Last year I outlined my music setup in a post entitled "Digital Music". I sang the praises of Slim Devices and their products. Now, Slim Devices' Sqeezebox supports Pandora! This is great and I'm pleased to see the integration of two great services. My only problem is that I have an outdated Sqeezebox so I'll need to upgrade prior to using Pandora on my home system. I'll eventually upgrade and the $36/year for the service will be a no brainer. I can't get enough of these innovations. Keep them coming!
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