Pandora Internet Radio didn’t start out as
an application. In fact it has been a very successful web-project since its
creation black in 2000. Codenamed the Music Genome Project, Pandora promised to
be a different kind of ‘radio.’ It succeeded by offering users the ability to
‘craft’ their own specialized radio station, filled with all of the songs and
genres that they adored. Pandora has achieved this goal through a fairly
simplistic system.
Pandora
radio for Ipod
Songs are added, categorized, and organized
according to specific values that developers have added to the database. The
‘customization system’ is based on whether the user likes or dislikes a
specific track. Once the track is playing, individuals can click a ‘thumbs up’ or
‘thump down.’ These simple buttons act as the catalyst that really drives the
customization of a given station. If a song is given the thumbs up, then it
will be played on that station again and Pandora will scrounge around its
databases in order to find songs that share similar traits. These traits can be
anything from a specific tone, genre, or artist. If a song is given the thumbs
down, then Pandora will no longer include that song on that station and will
begin to weed out songs that share similar attributes. Because of this, the
longer an individual listens to a station and gives songs a rating, the more
‘customized’ the station becomes. Its not all about liking and disliking
though. You are free to ‘skip’ songs if you don’t feel like rating them.
Pandora
Radio for iOS
You can have as many stations as you want
and each newly created station can be renamed and further customized. You can
even see lists of the songs you ’liked’ and links to where you can purchase
them. There is even a nifty little ‘add variety button’ that can be clicked on
any station. This will allow you to mix and mesh genres, artists, and overall
sounds. For example, what if you’re a fan of both country and rock and roll. By
first starting a country station and then adding rock-and-roll as a variety,
you can begin building a hybrid group. The possibilities are endless here, as
you can create as much variety per station as you want.
The best part is, Pandora is one-hundred
percent free, although there is a ‘paid version.’ that will cost you around $36
per year. The free version will require that you listen to ad’s (some can be
skipped) in order to enjoy all of your music. Also, you can only skip a certain
number or songs with the free version. The paid version will get rid of these
ad’s and will allow you to skip as many snog as you like. You can try an
upgraded trial of Pandora for 24-hours before you purchase it to give you an
idea of the perks.
The
Pandora Radio Apps
It isn’t just a web-platform anymore
either. Developers have brought an official (and free0 application to Apples
iOS store. The app functions pretty much the same, giving you all the freedoms
of the web-platform in a much more streamlined design. The neat part about the
application is that its designed to run in the background, meaning that you can
surf the web on your phone, or play around in other applications, all while
continuing to hear your custom radio stations.
