I’ve been playing around with Pandora Internet Radio, and I like what I’m hearing. It has a vast music library and can play hours of non-repetitive songs suited to your tastes. It occasionally goes off on a tangent, taking Eric Clapton Radio into 60s pop or Blues Radio into Motown. A click of the “dislike” button quickly puts it back on track. “Radio stations” are based on artists and genres, and each song has been analyzed using 450 characteristics. Pandora uses these to find similar music and uses your input to refine this.
The “free” service is peppered with frequent ads, and will occasionally nag you to confirm that you’re alive and still listening. I don’t know the purpose of this, except to prod people into subscriptions. For $36 a year you can eliminate these. I’m finding it worth the price, getting a lot of old favorites as well as finding new songs and artists, and with 24 hour service, you can play songs well into the night without interruption. Pandora has an Android app as well, but I haven’t had an opportunity to try this.
I prefer a DJ to carry things along, and information on the tracks and artists is limited. Overall, though, I’m impressed. There are few limitations on choices, and it’s a great way to discover new music. It’s a good approach to internet radio.
