Pandora is a product from the Music Genome Project, whose goal is to create the most comprehensive analysis of music ever.
They hope to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level. They have assembled literally hundreds of musical attributes or “genes” into a very large Music Genome. Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song - everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony.
What does this mean for you? Simply, the best FREE internet radio ever. All you have to do is enter an artist’s name in the radio player. Pandora will create a station based on the characteristics of that artist’s music.
For example, I entered “Jimmy Buffett” as the artist. A station was created that contained music based on Buffett’s use of acoustic rock instrumentation, folk influences, a subtle use of harmony, mild rhythmic syncopation and major key tonality. Pandora played other artists, The Eagles, James Taylor, Alan Jackson, Jackson Brown, etc.
Once the music starts playing, you rate the songs, and the player will adjust the selections based on your likes and dislikes. You can create up to 200 different stations, with the option of mixing stations, and sharing them with others. Links are provided to purchase the music through Amazon or iTunes.
Just released is Pandora for the iPhone.
Educational uses involve music appreciation and understanding commonalities in different music genres. Students can enter their favorite artists and map out the characteristics. Using a mapping tool, such as Inspiration, students can discover the various influences of older artists on current Top 40 stars.
