Pandora

Am I the last person to have discovered Pandora? It's an outgrowth of the Music Genome Project, which tries to map the universe of music by charting various aspects of particular songs (and artists' oeuvres). You go to the site, set up a free account, and type in an artist's name or two. It creates a streaming radio station with songs by that artist and others the database predicts you will like. As you're listening, you can vote thumbs up or down on a particular song, which further refines the stream you're listening to. In concept, it's a little bit like MoodLogic, which I've been playing around with on my home computer. MoodLogic creates mixes from your own digital collection based on mood and genre preferences you select -- its data is collected from users who've answered questions about how particular songs make them feel. Pandora, however, is built from songs not on your own computer, so you're likely to get introduced to something you haven't heard before. I was able to create an excellent "getting things done" stream based on a couple of artist names -- the ones I usually play over and over when I'm working at the cafe, for instance. Way more interesting to be exposed to some new stuff as well as the familiar. Plus, you can share your streams with friends or post them to your blog...