About the website:Pandora.com is a website where teens can listen to music for free! As part of the Music Genome Project, which began in 2002, this service allows users to type in their favorite artist and provide listeners with radio stations containing the music by those artists as well other musicians with similar styles. Users can create a free account and make as many stations as they way. The way music is selected is incredibly interesting since it manages to pair popular artists with indie artists, which provides listeners with an unknown alternatives, which not only gives listeners new music, but helps these up and coming artists with their fan bases.
What began as a project is now a full fledged service where individuals can upgrade their accounts, which allows! users hours upon hours of music, no commercials, and more opportunities to skip tracks. Teen do need their parents to upgrade their account (since it requires a credit card number), but, with any website, parents need to be aware that the music is uncensored; if they do not want their child listening to certain music, then they should make an account for themselves and grant their child provisional access. Pandora is now a mobile app for smartphones so any teen with an iPhone or Droid can download this application for 24/7 music with no additional uploading.
Critical Evaluation:What would a teen be without music? Unfortunately, with any free application, there are occasional advertisements and users can only skip a maximum of three tracks an hour, but nothing long enough to kill the mood for music. There is plenty of variety for users to listen to; however, if this is the only station that is being listened to then there is a higher chance of predicting the so! undtrack. Whatever the case, teens will enjoy having music at ! their grasp 24/7 whether they are at home on their computer, in the car, or walking around, Pandora is available to use wherever wireless signals are.Reader’s Annotation:Pandora.com is a free internet radio station that provides teens can access to popular artists anytime anywhere.
Information about the Company:According to Time Westergren, Founder of the Music Genome Project, ” n January 6, 2000 a group of musicians and music-loving technologists came together with the idea of creating the most comprehensive analysis of music ever.” (para.1). Pandora Radio is the custodian of the Music Genome Project where a whole group of listeners literally listened to thousands of song where every element was analyzed and grouped together by their common elements. Westergren also states:
Together we set out to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level. We ended up assembling literally hundreds of musical attrib! utes 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. It’s not about what a band looks like, or what genre they supposedly belong to, or about who buys their records – it’s about what each individual song sounds like (para. 2).Pandora Radio continues to evolve as one of the top online music radio resources where it now has a mobile app on smartphones where users can take Pandora everywhere.
Genre:Teen Websites
Curriculum Tie-In’s:N/A
Promotional Ideas:Pandora can definitely be used in a variety of ways in school and libraries. From Science to English to Math, this program can be used to teach teens about music selection based on algorithms, its working within! the digital world, and how one station of similar artists can provide ! listeners with material to analyze critically. Whether we are hosting programs, or teachers are using it as a teaching tool, it open for the public to use at any time free of charge.
Reading Level/Interest:All ages
Challenge Issues:N/A
Sites Similar to Pandora:
Playlist.com
LastFM.com
Why did I choose this site?Honestly, who does not love free music. This site is awesome for listeners who don’t want a lot of commercials or constant repetition. Moreover, since it is now mobile, it’s services can be accessed at any time, which is just great! The site is very easy to use and it’s sleak and rarely has problems.
Awards & Recognition:
2010 Webby Award Winner
2010 Peoples Voice Award
References:Flores, J. (2010, March 4). Pandora wins webby award. Earbits: Interactive Radio That Will Blow Your Mind. Retrieved April 23, 2011, from http://blog.earbits.com/onli! ne_radio/pandora-wins-webby-award/
About the music genome project. (n.d.). Pandora Radio – Listen to Free Internet Radio, Find New Music. Retrieved April 23, 2011, from http://w.pandora.com/mgp.shtml
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