Pandora’s Music Recommendations have Improved

I am sure everyone knows about Pandora radio by now, if not you’re living under a rock (or you’re just not into music). If you need a refresher here is the first post I did about the service back in 2006.

Sometime in 2006 after listening to Pandora nonstop, I realized it sucked. It just played the same no name bands over and over and over again. Only playing what you wanted to hear once every five to ten songs. I grew tired of this and moved on to better things.

Recently while at work I ran out of music I wanted to play on LaLa or my iPhone. I then noticed a few people were using Pandora. Remembering the boredom this caused the last time I used it 3 years ago I reluctantly downloaded their iPhone app.

I typed in a few bands I liked and Pandora created a station for me. To my surprise Pandora really had a handle on what I wanted to hear. Almost every song was something I heard before with a few new songs sprinkled in. It was the perfect mix!

So when did this happen? When did Pandora actually start to work like it says it does? Since I ignored it for three years I have no idea. It may have something to do with more artists distributing their music digitally. Whatever it is, it’s working. Pandora is now on my iPhone to stay.

Let me know if you agree or disagree with my Pandora observation. I might just be on a lucky streak right now with Pandora playing good music.