# Pandora.com Anyone?



## JennaAnderson (Dec 25, 2009)

Hi - so I love the website Pandora.com. For those of you that don't know about it it is a music streaming website. You list an artist or song you like and the website pulls music similar to that sound.

You can give a song a thumbs up or thumbs down and the station will be fine tuned until perfect. Once you have a few stations created you can mix them.

Did I mention I love this website?

*So if you do use Pandora.com - what stations have your created - based on what song or group?*

Mine are based on:
Last Request by Paulo Nutini
Shinedown
Breaking Benjamin
George Winston (for when I'm writing)
Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy

It is very addicting.

Jenna


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

Use Pandora a lot and when I'm in wifi range I can get it on my touch.
I find I usually end up with jazz when using Pandora


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

I also use Pandora a lot.  I use it more over my smart phone (Palm Pre) than over my PC.  Being able to stream it that way is wonderful, though battery-sucking.  I've found that when I listen to a broadcast radio station I start gritting my teeth because they occasionally play music I don't like!

Pandora channels I particularly like include:

Fox on the Run by Sweet
The Knack
Laura Branigan
C. W. McCall
Stile Antico
Wendy Carlos

(first three are uniformly "classic rock", but last three are very different from first three)


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

The Hooded Claw said:


> I also use Pandora a lot. I use it more over my smart phone (Palm Pre) than over my PC. Being able to stream it that way is wonderful, though battery-sucking. I've found that when I listen to a broadcast radio station I start gritting my teeth because they occasionally play music I don't like!
> Pandora channels I particularly like include:
> Fox on the Run by Sweet
> The Knack
> ...


Somebody else who likes Sweet. You have good taste (in the other music as well)


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

imallbs said:


> Somebody else who likes Sweet. You have good taste (in the other music as well)


There's a new album of some of Sweet's old songs out by a band that includes some of the original band. Brian Connolly isn't part of it of course (he's deceased!). Some interesting new twists on oldies, though nothing shock-inducing:

http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Live-in-America/dp/B002HJ8IPQ/ref=sr_shvl_album_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1261967353&sr=301-3


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

I listened to the samples and then put on my Sweet CD.  They are different and I like them both.  Thanks for the link.


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## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

I love Pandora and have been thinking about getting the pay service since it's so reasonable.  It's been a while since I've really played with it but here's some of my playlists...

Mannheim Steamroller (for over Christmas)
Sleepthief
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov
Auf Der Maur
Fireflight
Elis
Within Temptation
Dresden Dolls


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## geko29 (Dec 23, 2008)

Yup, I'm a Pandora One member, and I listen on my computers, squeezebox (new this christmas) and on my phone via bluetooth to my car stereo.  I actually cancelled the XM in my car (still have it in the wife's, and the online, so I can get it from my phone should I want to listen in my car).  My account is shared with the whole family, but here's what we've got:

Breaking Benjamin (my go-to station, and the default on everything except the squeezebox)
Alternative Pop/Rock (for at home, when screaming and curses from the above aren't appropriate )
Pop/Rock (my wife's)
Toddler Radio (the 2-year-old)

We also spent all day on Christmas day listening to either Blues Christmas or Jazz Holidays on the squeezebox.


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## JennaAnderson (Dec 25, 2009)

Yay another Breaking Benjamin fan! I also love smooth jazz.

It's so much fun to pick unique music and see what the website will pull.  Once I put in "I'm A Believer" by the Monkeys. Such fun music!

There's a pay version?

Jenna


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## corkyb (Apr 25, 2009)

What's a squeezebox?


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## Emily King (Jun 9, 2009)

I love pandora! We used to have a Rhapsody subscription but canceled it now that we can use pandora on our phones. 

Does it say something about me that I have way more stations? My favorite ones right now:
Muse
O Holy Night (Live)
Lady Gaga
Danny Elfman (mostly ends up being scores)

-Emily


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## enwood (Mar 13, 2009)

I LOVE Pandora!  My husband bought me a Droid phone for Christmas and it was the first thing I installed.  So far I have:

Dave Matthews Band
Cyndi Lauper
Counting Crows 
Colbie Caillat
Pearl Jam

I didn't know there was a pay version either.......what are the benefits?


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

Go to Pandora and click on _upgrade_ to find out about the "benefits". Some are, some aren't so much. $36 per year. I didn't know that with regular Pandora, you're limited to 40 hours total of listening per month. As they said, very few would reach the limit.


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## geko29 (Dec 23, 2008)

JennaAnderson said:


> There's a pay version?


Yup, Pandora One is a paid version (used to be simply a premium membership). For a whopping $36/year ($3/month for those who haven't yet had their coffee today), you get:

192kbps audio (vs. 128k)
dedicated desktop app
no ads
mini player (this one's kind of dubious, imo)
no daily skip limit (vs. 12 skips per day)
5-hour timeout with no interaction from you (vs. 1 hour, I think)
No monthly time limit (vs. 40 hours)
ability to listen from devices like squeezebox that don't support ads

Plus, you get to support a totally awesome company that really listens to their users and tries to make their service better on a continuous basis.



corkyb said:


> What's a squeezebox?


It's a network music player. There are a variety of types, but I have a Squeezebox Boom. It'll play audio files off your computer, internet radio, Pandora, Napster, last.fm, Sirius (but not XM) online, and a variety of other sources. Think of it as a boombox or clock radio for the 21st century.


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## Jen (Oct 28, 2008)

I LOVE Pandora!!  I've found so much new music through that site.  Actually, we have a Blu Ray player that has Netflix and Pandora built in.  I love it!  
My taste in music fluctuates, but I've got
Jack Johnson 
Norah Jones 
Brett Dennen 
Boards of Canada 
Sia
The Bird and the Bee

Just to name a FEW of them.


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## JennaAnderson (Dec 25, 2009)

EKing said:


> I love pandora! We used to have a Rhapsody subscription but canceled it now that we can use pandora on our phones.
> 
> Does it say something about me that I have way more stations? My favorite ones right now:
> Muse
> ...


That's whats so perfect about Pandora, you can play songs based on your mood - mix and match.

So much fun!


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## JennaAnderson (Dec 25, 2009)

Thanks for the run down Geko. Very good info.

I didn't know about the 40 hour limit and am surprised I haven't hit it yet. I play it at work all the time.  Hmmm. 

For me, Pandora has saved me money. I don't go out and buy the cds anymore because I can hear deeper tracks through this website, not just the same 'ol top hits played on the radio.

My husband is the opposite. He hears a couple songs he likes on Pandora by a particular band and proceeds to buy all their stuff.  

Jenna


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## Emily King (Jun 9, 2009)

There was a short period of time when Pandora wasn't working on my BlackBerry so I had to use Slacker Radio (similar) - it just isn't as good. 

I do agree that its a great way to discover new bands/artists that you may not have normally tried.


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## corkyb (Apr 25, 2009)

geko29 said:


> Yup, Pandora One is a paid version (used to be simply a premium membership). For a whopping $36/year ($3/month for those who haven't yet had their coffee today), you get:
> 
> 192kbps audio (vs. 128k)
> dedicated desktop app
> ...


 Wow. I haven't even heard of this. Too bad I have XM instead of Sirius in my car.


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## Aravis60 (Feb 18, 2009)

I listen to Pandora too. I some of the stations I listen to are 

Dave Matthews Band
Violin Features
Gregorian Chant 
O.A.R.
Barenaked Ladies
Gandalf


It depends on my mood. Our tech guru at work introduced me to the site. I love it.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

corkyb said:


> Wow. I haven't even heard of this. Too bad I have XM instead of Sirius in my car.


 I thought XM and Sirius were the same thing now. . . . . . .


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## Jen (Oct 28, 2008)

Has anyone ever tried last.fm?  Someone had told me it was better than Pandora, but I never got the hang of it.


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## geko29 (Dec 23, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I thought XM and Sirius were the same thing now. . . . . . .


Yes and no. They've merged, but the equipment and content are still different to an extent. If you're on one service, you can pay an extra fee to get the "Best of" the other service on your existing receiver. And their online account management and streaming setups are still 100% separate, which is where the squeezebox limitation comes from. Additional functionality is added to squeezebox by adding "apps", and there's a Sirius app, but not an XM app (and probably never will be). Unlike the iPhone Sirius/XM app (which asks you if you're a Sirius or XM subscriber before requesting your login information), ONLY users with a Sirius online login can use the squeezebox app.

The whole merger was a complete cluster**** which continues to screw customers on a daily basis. Sirius customers got the "less bad" deal, but everybody lost something.

Now that said, you CAN get XM on squeezebox via a plugin to the squeezeserver software you can install on a PC on your network (which is how you can play MP3s from your PC), but it's not an officially supported solution, nor is it as elegant as an app like Pandora.


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## earthlydelites (Dec 12, 2009)

whoops, I thought this post was going to be a discussion about the pandora beads for bracelets hahahaha


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## F1Wild (Jun 15, 2009)

Love Pandora!!!

At the moment:  
Paolo Nutini
Otis Redding
Boston
Thin Lizzy
Ra


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