What is Pandora Radio?

For all you music lovers out there like myself, Pandora Radio could quit possibly be the right website for you. When I was growing up (in the 90’s)  listening to the radio was the coolest thing! When driving in the car I used to make my parents turn on all the cool stations and make them listen to all the sweet songs of the 90’s. I used to love sitting in my room and turning on my boombox. Now with the advancement of technology and introduction of new electronics like the iPod, I barely ever listen to my car radio or use a boombox (actually I don’t even own one anymore). So when you see Pandora “Radio” don’t get too let down. Pandora is a whole different type of radio, that I feel has maybe even changed the meaning of radio all together. So what is Pandora Radio?

Pandora is an internet radio that you can access at http://www.pandora.com. Pandora is an automated music recommendation service. The service plays musical selections of a certain genre based on the user’s artist selection. In 2012, Pandora was reported to have over 150 million users. So how do you get started using Pandora?

First you must go to their website at http://www.pandora.com. Then either you can enter an artist right away and begin listening to a station or you can become a member. To become a member all you have to do is give an email, pick a user name, and then enter in a password. By becoming a member you can log in at any location and every station you have listened too previously will be saved to your playlist.

Now let’s learn how to start finding all your favorite music and beginning listening to all of those favorite jams of yours.

When you first visit the website the page will look like this:

Enter in your desired artist, genre, or composer to select your first station. If you enter in an artist like the Dave Matthews Band, the station will play a majority of DMB songs or songs similar to DMB such as Mumford and Sons, Jack Johnson etc. Now if you don’t like the song that is being played you have the option to skip that song. Also there is a way to indicate whether you liked that song and want to hear even similar songs or a way to indicate that you don’t want to hear songs like that one on that particular station (I will provide that information later on).

After you’ve chosen your desired station the page will look like this:

You can begin to navigate your radio station by these four buttons: first button has a thumb pointing down and the second button has a thumb pointing up. These two buttons indicate whether you like the song that is being played or dislike it. So here I’m listening to 90’s Alternative Radio Station the first song is a song by the band Sublime. By hitting the thumbs up the station will play more Sublime songs. If I hit the thumbs down, they will no longer play any Sublime songs. You don’t always have to indicate whether you liked that song or not but there is always that option for you. The third button is your pause/play button and the third button is your skip button. Now if you don’t like the song being played you can always skip it but be careful there is a limited amount of times you can skip songs on one station.

After becoming a member you can edit your profile. Your profile allows you to keep track of your favorite stations and even posts your recent activity.

Anyone can use Pandora!! It is a great website for people of all ages. The best part about Pandora is that there are other ways to access it without a computer. You can also access it from your iPod, Smartphone, i Pad, and more. Pandora has an application that you can download on any device. I have the app on my iPod and cell phone. As long as you have WiFi Pandora is easy to access. Again, with the advancement of technology I am able to connect my cellphone’s music to play in my car using my itrip. By using my itrip and cellphone I can play Pandora in my car by using the app.

My last great point about Pandora Radio is you don’t have to deal with those annoying DJ’s who talk your ear off and take those ridiculous phone calls with people who talk about their problems. You also don’t have to worry about listening to those awful commercials for over five minute. Now the way Pandora is able to keep itself running and to make money is by advertisements. These advertisements are small and aren’t annoying. While listening to the radio you do occasionally get interrupted by a 15 second add but that’s better then listening to commercials for which seems like forever. Also these short adds are pretty rare they will come on maybe after 4 or 5 songs. I can handle a 15 second break but not several minutes of commercials after two songs.

Every year Pandora is gaining more and more members. Everyone should become a member and enjoy this amazing website. You can use it anywhere, while doing anything. Heck, I’ve been listening to it this whole time!