I described in an earlier post the basics of Pandora. I realize that I had barely scratched the surface… Creating one station based on one artist works great, and most people might just stop there since Pandora does such a nice job at suggesting other tunes - but it is just the beginning. Not only can you vote (like/dislike) on what you hear to help the engine narrow your selections, you can also refine (or on the contrary diversify) your station by adding more artists to the mix! For instance, my Placebo station was full of trendy MTV posers such as Good Charlotte and Blink 82 - certainly not what I wanted to hear. Placebo is dark, subversive, ambiguous (try Pure Morning or Nancy Boy). I had to “drag down” the mood of the station, add some depression to the mix: what about some Bauhaus, New Order and Bush (the band - I don’t want to get that depressed!)? Yes, a little dated, but it helped. You can listen to it here.

Kind of reminds me of my high-school days, trading obscure vinyls, making compilation tapes for friends and DJ-ing on college radios! Fun.

By the way, you can read more about Pandora on TechCrunch.
And here are the links to the stations described in my previous post (and slightly tweaked since):

• The Placebo
• Kruder The Thief
• The Keren Orton Connection