I listen to Pandora constantly. At work, it is a saving grace. But, for some reason, I’ve run across people who prefer other services that only play “the music I tell it to play.”
They are entitled to their opinion. But after turning to Pandora, I cannot endorse anything else. It’s simply too good. Let me give an example.
I rarely buy music. iTunes is something I interact with daily, but I’ve never actually bought anything off it. Record stores? Never. The majority of my music always came from the radio, and sometimes hearing live performances. But I’ve bought one CD from a record store 6 years ago. Now, jumping to a different point in the story…
On Pandora I have a radio station mix of two groups I enjoy, Flogging Molly and The Decemberists. As Pandora plays, I tell it which songs it plays I especially like. After a week of using that radio station mix, I was surprised to hear a song I hadn’t heard in a while. I enjoyed it, but forgot exactly who it was. When I checked the screen, I was shocked. It was Modest Mouse. It was from the CD I had bought 6 years ago in a record store. The only one I’ve bought, ever, in my entire life. Pandora had figured out I liked their music, before I ever told it.
That, my friends, is the brilliance of Pandora. Humans really are logical creatures, whether we want to admit it or not. Pandora is far from perfect, but it’s a machine that knows from a logical interpretation, what you like.
In addition, the number of new artists that I’ve discovered and absolutely love through them is boundless. It’s made me actually consider buying another CD, although now there are too many I’d want to ever be practical. Pandora pays the music industry a fee for each listener, each song they play. I cost Pandora money. I’m not much of a consumer, so the ads they play to make a semblance of profit don’t really affect me. But this model of music discovery is so incredible, that Pandora should really be the ones paid to play the record companies’ music. They’ve made me reconsider. That’s something the music industry has never been able to do on its own.
392 words that should have been devoted to a novel.
