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Pandora Radio

An automated music recommendation and Internet radio service created by the Music Genome Project.

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What do DJs listen to while they're paying the bills?

Apr 15, 2009

by djevoke
posted in Hip-Hop Culture: Breakdance, MC, DJ, Graffiti

Rating:

Oh, how I love Pandora, let me count the ways.

First, you can create your own radio station. At first, I had toyed around with their "genre stations". Their R&B station is not my type of R&B, a little too much JoJo and Beyonce for my taste. So, I decided to type in "Jill Scott", you just can't go wrong with her. They matched her style of neo-soul with some R&B artists that match that style and voila- I LOVE IT! I listen to it as I wind down the day at work or with my boyfriend over a glass of wine.

Secondly, I have a great variety in my tastes in music. Pandora allows you to line up the different stations either you create or they create so you can just click on whichever one strikes your mood. To give you an idea, my station list includes: Jill Scott Radio, Billie Holiday Radio, Dancehall, Sam Cooke Radio, Underground Hip Hop, Oldies Soul, Funk, Classic Hip Hop, Pharcyde Radio, Latin and Classic Rock. They even have a QuickMix choice so that all your stations will be mixed randomly for those times when you just can't make up your mind.

Third, it goes quite a while without an ad interrupting it. So that you can have a chance to enjoy music the way it should be played!

Finally, as a DJ, I'm really picky on programming. I try not to be, really I do but, I can't help it. When I listen to Pandora, it's rare that I want to skip a song. They do a great job of stringing hits with very little misses, especially when you create a station with an artist's name.

Now, there are a two things that I DON'T LIKE. One, you can't go backwards. So, if you happen to take off your headphones (if at work like myself) or walk away for a bit and come back to hear the last part of the song that you LOVE and haven't heard in FOREVER, you're screwed. You can't rewind the song or even select the prior song to replay.

Two, as others have said there is a set number of times you can skip songs. When I shop the genre stations and am looking for a song I like, it would be helpful to skip more songs. However, I've learned that after five songs, I may just not like that genre station.

Overall, it's definitely worth checking out! Be sure to create stations with your favorite artists to skip a lot of ads (mostly found on genre stations) and to find wonderful gems that you may have forgotten.

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dalydose December 01, 2009

Um...DJ's pay their bills? Y'all are doing better than actors! :)

I love Pandora too and I even have the same dislikes as you! I should subscribe to your stations so I don't have to do it myself! ha ha ha

Do you continually "vote" on songs to make the stations even better?

djevoke December 03, 2009

haha...well, we try! You are more than welcome to my stations, lovie. I do vote and bookmark both songs and artists. It makes it super easy when I want to go on a Limewire binge and download a ton of songs.

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alexophile December 01, 2009

Agreed - I worked at a radio station for a few years, so I unintentionally got a little picky about what I listen to in the background. With only a little bit of initial effort, you can get a really good station going and let it take the reigns.

djevoke December 03, 2009

Yep! I also love blip.fm because you can post it directly to Twitter and it makes it so easy to share some amazing songs with your friends.

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fasdan May 23, 2009

I used to love PANDORA but unfortunately it is no longer available in the UK.....something to do with Performing Rights,I think!

djevoke December 03, 2009

Oh no! Have you tried last.fm or blip.fm? Sorry it took me so long to write, I never knew you wrote this! Hope those two help you out, they both rock!

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HealthyRache April 15, 2009

I've only been using Pandora for a couple of months, but I did notice that they just started featuring ads. Yesterday, I was appalled that there was an ad for McDonald's! How dare they interrupt Brett Dennen for greasy fast food! :)

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About the reviewer

Samantha (djevoke)
Ranked #17

I'm a human jukebox that is constantly changing my station depending on my mood! Feel free to share your passion with me in my communities: Pass the Remote!, Hip Hop Culture, Wedding Planning … more

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About this website

http://pandora.com

Wiki

Pandora is an automatic music recommendation and Internet radio service created by the Music Genome Project. People enter a song or artist and the service plays a list of songs that are similar. Pandora refines the personalized radio station with the person's thumbs-up/thumbs-down feedback on each song. Over 400 different musical attributes are considered when selecting the next song.

People can buy songs they hear from Amazon MP3, Amazon.com, or the iTunes Store.

The Pandora media player plays through a web browser and on portable devices such as iPhone. The service is supported through advertising and subscriptions.

Pandora radio is the personalized internet radio service that helps you find new music based on your old and current favorites. Create custom web radio stations, listen free.

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