pandora

Do you use this?

Today at work I had a 4 1/2-hour long, mind-numbingly boring task I just had to sit down and plow through and I knew there was no way I was going to make it through without music. Unfortunately, I had none with me. So, I figured, okay, yeah, let's mess about with some internet radio.

Pandora, in case you don't use it, uses the music genome project to personalize what it plays for you. You start by telling it some artists, songs, or genres you like as a starting point, and then you vote yay or nay on the songs as they come up to tweak it, etc. But what's really cool (to me, anyway) is that when a song comes up, you can click on "why is this recommended for me?" and it will tell you what "genes" are in the songs you like that are also in this selection. I thought it would be sort of simplistic: "subtle punk roots" or "electric instrumentation" are kind of self-evident. But apparently I also like extensive vamping and minor key tonality. Amongst other things. None of which I have ever heard of or have any clue about.

I may just become obsessed with this. Maybe my apparently instinctive love for minor key tonality explains why I cannot listen to country music. Or something. I'm sure it explains something.

xoxo