If you’re like me, you’ve grown to really despise commercial radio. If the radio is even on in my car, it’s set to NPR; I can’t bear the constant, mindless nattering of D.J.s who are in love with the sound of their own voices and who are nowhere near as funny as they think they are. I’m sick of idiotic commercials, of hearing the same songs over and over, and of only hearing one or two songs before the D.J.s come on to practice their inane brand of stand-up before introducing three minutes of commercials.
Because of this (well deserved) disdain for most radio stations, and because I am not wealthy enough to afford - nor do I spend enough time in my car to justify the expense of - internet radio, my mobile music options involve CDs or my iPod. Most of the time, though, I just listen to NPR.
Part of the problem with this is that I end up in musical ruts, stagnated and dated by all the “old” music on my CDs and iPod. I don’t know what’s new out there because I don’t have the patience with the radio stations to listen long enough to GET to something new.
I’ve figured out how to solve that problem, and it’s called Pandora.
It’s an internet radio station that doesn’t air any ads. There are visual advertisements on the site, but they don’t interrupt the music (and from what I gather, I could subscribe for a fee and get rid of even those). I can create “stations” by clicking on that button, then the site prompts me to type in a song or an artist that I already like, and it will “create a station that explores that part of the music universe.” The songs come up on a little screen, with artist name, song title, and album name. If I like it, I can push the little “thumbs up” button. If I don’t like the song, I push the “thumbs down” button and the song STOPS, which is wonderful (I’m not sure what happens if I don’t express an opinion - it may just assume the positive). My preferences are then used to determine what songs are put into the offering for that “station.”
I’ve already found a couple of new artists I’m going to be looking a bit more into, and have found quite a few who don’t sound worth the bother. I can’t get Pandora in the car, but I can plug my laptop into my neat-o, cool Cambridge Soundworks speakers and enjoy the music - both familiar and new - while I’m puttering around the house. It’s great, and I recommend a trip on over there to see (hear) for yourself.
I happen to like the quartet on “the buzz” - well, ok, i could do without the orange-skinned, musclebound jackass, but other than that… - and if you like sports, WEEI 850 AM out of Boston is pretty good talk radio.
I have been Pandora ing for months now and I absolutely love it. My sister in CA turned me on to it and I like to have it playing in the background. Trouble is, I have so many scraps of paper with song or artist titles on them all over my desk now.
thank you for the Pandora link — I have three stations set up already today!
I listen to satellite radio mostly. I also waste (waste?!) endless hours looking for new stuff to like at the iTunes music store.
Our local NPR station is a classical music format, and I really do not like to listen to it. Call me a Philistine, whatever. They spend endless hours during the year trying to drum up money. Since I can’t get the station anywhere but in the car, and avoid driving during rush hour like the plague, I seldom hear Morning Edition or All Things Considered, so I don’t send these folks a dime (I know, Philistine).
I think I tried Pandora once, but I will again on your advice.