I have a new music obsession called Pandora, it’s an internet radio of sorts. I thought I’d share it w/ you while it lasts, because my attention span is like 45 seconds long. There are several things that make it cool.

1. It’s free. Good start.
2. The music is based on your preferences, not pre-sets lists. You create ’stations’ by typing in a song, or an artist, and it selects music that is “musically similar” to what you’ve entered. It’s not based on music other people like who ALSO like that artist, it’s based on the inner workings of that song or artist. The sound of the guitar, or the vocals, or the rhythm, etc.. It’s called the Music Genome Project and it’s pretty freaking cool.

I typed in Mike Doughty (of course) and sure enough, it started with 27 Jennifers. But then about 30 minutes later I realized I was still listening to the ’station’ and all of it had been pretty pleasant. The sound was so similar to Mike Doughty, I’d forgotten what I was listening to. I paid attention for a bit, and noticed the ‘thumbs up’ and ‘thumbs down’ buttons that allow you to accept or reject songs according to your tastes to help tailor your station. After a few of those, the rest of my listening has been dead on. I now have a heavier station (based on The Killers and The White Stripes), a veeery slow station (based on Jose Gonzalez). That’s as far as I’ve gotten, but I predict much more.

In case you’re wondering, I haven’t given up on Rhapsody. In fact, I’m heading out to Wyoming for a few days and this has inspired me to transfer some brand new music to my MP3 player instead of the same old thing. If I stick with it, those two sites in conjunction could be a beautiful companionship.

Go, listen, love.