Pandora Radio Review

I'm a lover of satellite radio.  I've been an XM subscriber since shortly after launch.  I immediately liked the idea of being able to choose the genre of the music I would be listening to.  And the ability to listen to virtually commercial-free content...priceless!  While I listen to XM primarily while driving, I also enjoy listening while I'm working on the computer.  So, if I'm in the mood to listen to oldies while I write it's pretty simple. 

But even with XM, I'll occasionally come upon a song I'm not fond of, or worse, one that reminds me of a time or episode I'd rather not remember at the moment.  Or, I might find myself in a Billy Joel (or Aerosmith, Steeleye Span, Beatles, etc) kind of mood.  You've been there, haven't you?

Well, for just these types of moments there's something new under the sun.

Pandora Radio

Pandora Radio (pandora.com) is an outgrowth of the Music Genome Project.  Essentially Pandora gives you the ability to create your own radio station based on artist, song or composer.  Enter any of these three and Pandora will sort their vast collection of music and play only songs that fit the criteria or songs that they consider similar.  If you agree with their suggestion you can give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down if you don't think it should be included on your station.  Pandora learns from your interaction with it.

So, going back to our Billy Joel example, Pandora will assume if you like Billy Joel you'll also like Elton John.  Makes sense to me.  Does it make sense to you?  Okay.  But then Pandora might also assume you want to listen to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers when you're in your Billy Joel mood.  I like Tom Petty, but not necessarily when I'm in a Billy Joel mood.  I could tell Pandora to skip the song or give it a thumbs down.  But since I like Tom Petty, I have the option to create my own Tom Petty Station.  Pretty cool.

Did I mention it's free?

Yes, Pandora is totally free if you want to listen to it over the web.  Paid subscriptions ($36/yr) gives you Pandora on your cell phone or home music system.  For me, listening on-line through my Creative Labs Speaker System is all I need.

My Viewpoint

For a really incredible radio experience you owe it to yourself to tune in.  But I caution you it may be habit forming.  Needless to say I highly recommend Pandora Radio.