Pandora and the Music Genome Project
Don’t pigeonhole me please
I remember that the first time I stumbled onto the Music Genome Project and Pandora I was very skeptical and didn’t even bother trying the service. I guess I was being a little arrogant (dude, I’ve got over 600 CD’s in my collection; not counting vinyls; do you really think you have anything to show me that I don’t already know?!). In addition, I have a fierce aversion for services that try to pigeonhole consumers and then feed them with what they “want” over and over again; where is the spice in life when everything just tastes the same? There are tons of streaming services out there with specialized music channels - they all get very boring after 30mn, roughly playing the same song over and over again.
I eventually gave in after yet more raving comments on Pandora on HorsePigCow. It was time to try it out.
It all starts with a simple question…
I’ve never been able to answer the simple “what is your favorite band/book/movie” question. So when Pandora prompted me for my favorite singer, I was a little uncertain for a few seconds. Finally I entered Beth Orton, whose Central Reservation album is probably one of the most memorable record I’ve heard in this past decade.
Here’s what Pandora gave me in return:
- Fifty five falls - Marissa Nadler
- Keren Ann - Nolita (*)
- Sunday Morning - Ana DiFranco
- Beloved Wife - Natalie Merchant
- Sweet Unknown - The Hope Blister
- Lion’s Mane - iron & Wine
- There For You - Sara Paxton
- The Good Old Days - Eels (*)
- One Thing - Finger Eleven (+)
- Sorry - Pat Benatar (…)
- Surrounded - Chantal Kreviazuk (-)
- Sorry to Myself - Alanis Morrissette
- Tomorrow - Avril Lavigne (…)
- Annabelle Lee - Marissa Nadler (+)
- Dragon Fly - Yann Tiersen & Shannon Wright (+)
- To This Earth - Nick Castro & The Poison Tree
- Sno Cat - Kristin Hersh (*)
- Fan Dance - Sam Phillips (…)
- Chest Of Drawers - Wovenhand
- Hall Of Fire - Hall Of Fame
- Behind Her Smiling Eyes - Cyann & Ben
- Mermaid - Lily Holbrook
- Snow - Emiliana Torrini (*)
- Landslide (live) - Fleetwood Mac
- Big Brother - The Out Crowd (-)
- For the Roses - Joni Mitchell
- Wild Deer At Dawn - Diane Cluck (-)
Wow! I was stunned to hear Keren Ann and Yann Tiersen, two other artists I really like but who are definitely less-known, and whose relationship to Beth Orton is not that obvious. More importantly, I discovered quite a few new interesting artists (+) that I need to investigate. Overall, all the songs were decent, with only a few ones that I didn’t like (-). Some choices (…) were a bit surprising but to be fair they were not as bad as one might have thought.
What’s missing?
The fact that Pandora streams music (128kbps) in a Flash widget is a little annoying. Ultimately, for Pandora to grow from its current status of toy for geeks it will need to leave the laptop and either enter your living room through some media center, or your mobile life through your iPod - and for this, Flash will not cut it.
Is it really that good?.. or was I just lucky?
When was the last time I discovered 5 to 10 new artists I wanted to hear more of while listening to a 2 hour program? So far, I’m tempted to classify Pandora among the best things that have happened to online music since the Groove Salad of Soma FM!
Was I simply lucky, hitting Pandora with artists and styles that the folks at the Music Genome Project know well? Or is the quality of their “predictions” consistent across the whole spectrum of pop music (unfortunately they do not cover classical nor world music yet)? In any case, it looks very promising.
The first 10 hours are free and then it’s $36 a year. Try it out for yourself and let me know!
My other Pandora stations
Keren Ann station
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Midi dans le salon de la duchesse - Keren Ann (*)
Simple Kind of Life - No Doubt (*)
Chelsea Burns - Keren Ann (*)
None - Erin McKeown (+)
Afraid Of My Heart - Universal Honey
Undertaker - Marissa Nadler
Story Of My Life - Kristian Leontiou (+)
Road Bin - Keren Ann (*)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Damon & Naomi (+)
Chemical Drive - Gosling (++)
Be With - Koushik
My Only Enemy - Meredith Bragg and the Terminals (++)
Mockingbirg - Papercuts
Thievery Corporation Station
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Lebanese Blonde - TC (*)
Blackbird (feat. Nina Simone) - Mocean Worker (+)
Remember Me - Blue Boy
Breathe - Telepopmusik (+)
Beautiful Things (Gabriel & Dresden Unplugged Mix) - Andain
To This World - Soei
The gentle rain (RJD2 remix) - Astrud Gilberto (++)
Numero Deux - The Dining Rooms
Sofa Rockers - Kruder & Dorfmeister (*)
No Problem - The Dining rooms
Flowers - Fauna Flash (+)
Perfume (feat. Adriana Varela) - Bajofondo Tango Club (+)
Clear Cut (feat. Bomb The Bass) - Lali Puna (+)