This is exactly what happens to me and this has become my "precious" time, listening to Pandora and then following the trail. We have also started a communal thing at work sort of an offshoot (and now a replacement of Pandora (since the anti-freedom gods blocked everything of any interest on our web access last week) where someone plays something through their PC and then someone walks by and comes up with a band that sounds like that band. It is pretty cool because this really has begun to bridge the generations because it is not about the hot new band or singer but about how the music can be similar yet new and different and special at the same time.

Don't forget checking tour dates for Marked artists and gasping "So THAT'S what happened to so and so," or "I THOUGHT that sounded familiar," and trying to track down the other members of a defunct band.

Backstage gets my vote for the biggest and best black holes ever. And it's helping me regain my title of Grand High Music Nerd (Mid-Atlantic Region).

Oh yes, it also leads to recommending songs and artists that are not in the iTunes library so one may purchase for that hypothetical moment when one has time to listen to something besides Pandora. (After we switch to a 30-hour day maybe?)

Off topic: I notice that Favourites now overwrites if one marks the same song twice. This means I don't have to waste time cleaning my list because I forgot I already have a song in there. Will the brilliance never end?

I doubt it.

jk

I'm from Brazil and i'm writing here because I'm a little desapointed with Pandora's songs... From Brazil I just finded MPB songs, but there are a lot of bands, good bands that plays rock, rap, etc... it seams that here in Brazil we play just MPB.

Hi Helena -

Feel free to suggest Brazilian artists you'd like us to check out at suggest-music@pandora.com.

I definitely fit the profile you describe there. Spot on! It would be great to see more meta-information on the backstage pages. Better yet would be if we could customize the info we cared about in our user settings, and if some of it automatically showed up below the Pandora player while the song was playing.

I don't know if the respective business models would facilitate this, but I would turn from a Pandora user into a bona-fide cult member if you guys could somehow partner with MP3Tunes & get some of their indie artists into the mix.

I won't purchase music on RIAA labels because of ethical opposition to their practices. If I could set up a little, clickable "RIAA-free" asterisk that showed up on such songs in the Pandora interface, I'd be much more likely to start buying tracks and CDs. The way things are now, the research involved in checking the RIAA-safety of an artist/album/track makes it too inconvenient to do except on the most mezmerizing of songs.

Lucia, thanks for being like that. And big thanks for letting me know that there are other people that "invest" (not "waste") precious (indeed) time in their well being. I tried to live sometime without doing it and I was getting crazy! And what about trying to explore the references you get from bands or songs names? THey made pay a special attentin to Bauhaus movement, writer Antonin Artaud or Bloody Sunday, just to name a few. Try it!

Thanks for the comments and suggestions!

Paul: We are working on ways to give listeners more control over their playlists, and thanks for the RIAA comment.
Feel free to suggest those indie artists you speak of at suggest-music@pandora.com. We like the indie artists. :)

Hey, come to Webster Groves MO.. a "burb" of St. Louis... and St. Louis for that matter. Soulard and the Landing downtown are the place for new bands and wonderful songs. Webster Groves is home to one of the most "archaic/eclectic" record stores I've ever met.. Webster Records.. You might find something there to air.
clc

This is true.
And because of it I'd be happy to have a corresponding link from every song to AMG Allmusic (http://allmusic.com/) information page. If only you could make it possible...
Also it would be nice to have the year of album release in Pandora player besides the album name.
Thanks in advance and thank you for this radio.

A great idea, very well done!!

Hi Cindy,

Recently, we added a feature that does exactly what you're suggesting. If, while you're listening to a song, you click the title or the artist name, you'll be taken to our new backstage area, which has information provided by AMG. Here's a sample link to a page:

http://www.pandora.com/music/artist/0efe400e2bf1b490

Enjoy, and thanks for listening.

Seana
Dir. of Product Management, Pandora.

Hi:
I just discovered Pandora and I can only say that I am very impressed. It is a very cool tool, especially if you are sitting behind your desk all day. I am the editor of www.CVMusicWorld.com and Sodade Magazine, both dedicated to the music of Cape Verde. So far, I have only been able to find Cesaria Evora, which did not surprise me. It would be nice to extend your database or playlist with other great Capeverdean singers such as Ildo Lobo, Lura, Sara Tavares, Tito Paris, Maria de Barros, Bana, Tchéka, Mayra Andrade, and many others. You can find more about our music by visiting the website mentioned above. Thank you very much for this great device.

Hey Lucia --

Eric Bazilian, who wrote "One of Us"? He was in a Philadelphia-based band in the '80s called the Hooters. They had a few hits, and their MTV appearances were notable for their use of the melodica, a keyed-reed instrument used in reggae and also called... you guessed it... a hooter. Ding ding ding.

Anyhow, the Hooters are on Pandora. Of course.

1) As a new user, I think that when you are creating a personal station it might be more user friendly to be able to enter several artists or songs in one shot, instead of one at a time.

2) You guys need to research Carl Kress and George Barnes. Both were awesome guitarists!

3) It would be nice to be able to include classical music. I searched for Stravinsky, Beethoven, and Webern and came up with nothing.

Pandora is my radio at work. Love it!

I keep trying to build a Christian Rock station with the likes of 12 Stones, Toby Mac, Kutless etc but all I get is the music sound style. The software doesn't distinguish between Kid Rock and 12 Stones...two completely different messages! Help! Now my station I'm trying to build beginning with 12 Stones is playing Nirvana. It doesn't get it! I might just give up and go back to Yahoo music where that genre is recognized.

Todd...surely the idea of pandora is the sound of the music, not its 'genre'?

Love it!! Right to the point. Would love to be able to save a list of songs then write them all on a CD. It would be worth a premium cost. GOOD JOB. Tox

Pandora is AWESOME! I never listen to anything else! You're the best! Thank you! Love, :Dragonfly425

in love with pandora

I have asked to have an artist named "Sy Zentner" added to one of my stations, but it keeps coming back saying you don't know the artist, but will check into it. Well, I have done that several times with the same reply. Sy Zentner was a very famous band leader, whom, by the way, I have 3 albums from. Does folks at Pandora actually check out the artists that we request?
By the way, I love Pandora, don't get me wrong. I just would like Sy Zentner put into the mix with the BIG BAND sounds I love so much.
Telling everyone I know about Pandora is....
Danny in Atlanta

Karlikurod4

I have this thing playing like all day of every day almost, too good

Yup, I too do the exact same thing. I need some music to motivate me to get the housecleaning done, and then I gotta make sure that song never plays again, and then I love this one! Etc...Oops, the day is slipping by. :)

Is there a way to go back to a song and hear it again? I cant' seem to figure this out. I've only been on Pandora for 2 days now. I end up turning it down to answer my phone and I miss a really good song but cannot figure out how to back track and listen to it again. Does anyone know how to do this?
Thank you,
Kristi

Kristi:

Well that's why Pandora isn't illegal :)
You can add songs to you favourites page and listen to snippets of them if you want.

I think the site is a great idea. It must've taken a lot of work to get something like this actually functioning, so kudos. But to make it better I think it would be awesome if I could actually input the criteria I wanted in a song and make a custom radio station like that, instead of choosing an example of a group or song that I like which may happen to have some or most of the aspects I like in music, but is misleading to a program as far as what would be right on the nose of what I'm looking for in music.

This is one freakin' awesome idea. I have one complaint; I’m creating a history of rockin' roll station (Bean hole radio). When lookin' for Jackie Brenston or Rocket 88 (the first rockin' roll tune) it was not to be found. I believe that you if your goin’ offer this service you better make it comprehensive. Please get the rights. Thanks for creating Pandor.com you all rock.

Napster was great in terms of finding rare music and that you could chat with other listeners who had the same musical interest . Hopefully the creators of Pandora will incorporate that element as well. Im very pleased with Pandora as it is now. Best luck.