My good friend, Scott, recently introduced me to Pandora and the revolutionary Music Genome Project that drives its system. I've been hooked ever since.
It constantly amazes me how "smart" the Internet continues to get. Whether it's Amazon.com introducing us to products tailored to our liking, Facebook.com mapping out our 6-degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon, or now, Pandora introducing us to new and obscure songs based on our musical taste, the Internet continues to keep us one step ahead of the curve. It's incredible to think there is a group of 100 or so part-time musicians, sitting in some cramped office in Oakland this morning, mapping out the entire ocean of music libraries for our ultimate listening pleasure.
I just read a fascinating article in Inc. magazine the other day about Pandora founder Tim Westergren's "long and strange trip." Westergren is one of those ambitious dot.commer's that I really hope makes it big. He seems driven by the genuine love of music, and his "fans" know it. That's right, fans. The guy is introducing us to a new vehicle for listening to music, perhaps in the same way Elvis Presley once introduced us to a whole new way of musical experience as well. Until now, the common man describing music has been about as awkward as describing what exact facial qualities make Scarlett Johanssen beautiful. Now I know that my favorite song of all time, Where the Streets Have No Name by U2, are defined by the following characteristics:
electric rock instrumentation
mild rhythmic syncopation
extensive vamping
major key tonality
electric guitar riffs
an emotional male lead vocal performance
political lyrics
By matching those characteristics with other songs--regardless of genre, musician, time period, etc.-- Pandora introduces me to other groups I may have not otherwise listened to... like, The Stills? Pulp? The Love X Nowhere? Huey Lewis, that I can understand, however.
But try Pandora for yourself. First there was Napster, then iTunes, now Pandora... the game just keeps on changing.
