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March 31, 2008
Play Listen Repeat Vol. 34
I'm sure we've all had the experience of learning of an important, definitive artist or record, then listening to the music and either not liking it, or not understanding what all the fuss is about.
What I'm curious about this week is how you listeners would describe or explain that experience.
Can you name some music that you both know is good but also that you just don't like? Can you describe how you know it's good? How can you hear the "good-ness" of the music, even though you don't like it?
I always think of this when I hear people say they don't like a certain genre of music, because almost every genre must have some artists that are good, right? Separating my personal taste from evaluations of the quality of music is a great challenge, but it can have great rewards. I'm very curious to hear how you all think of it!
Posted by Michael Zapruder at 02:53 PM | Comments (70)
March 26, 2008
Our coverage of South By Southwest
Pandora's Great Venues videos roll on! This time, we cover Austin's answer to March Madness... South By Southwest. Here is the first part of our three-episode SxSW series, in which we meet a set of bands on their way to the Lone Star State:
For part two, featuring exclusive live footage, head over to the Pandora Video Series homepage. Did you hit SxSW this year? If so, what were your favorite shows? We'd love to compare notes.
Our Pandora Backstage area features more information on the four bands in this episode: Minipop, elephone, Mud and Lovelikefire.
Posted by Kevin at 10:01 AM | Comments (6)
March 24, 2008
Play Listen Repeat Vol. 33
Have you heard that sales of vinyl records are way up these days, and that last week Elvis Costello announced plans to release his upcoming record on vinyl only, with a coupon for a free download of the release with purchase?
No this isn't going to be another post about how deeelicious vinyl is. But these trends seem to be related to something I've been hearing and thinking a lot about lately, which is the effort to reinstate a "rich experience" for music listeners.
In terms of vinyl's resurgence, people say that vinyl record has gravitas and its own odd beauty, and it requires an attentiveness that confers a specialness to the music and to the act of listening; and beyond vinyl's popularity, many artists and labels are seeking ways to offer real rich experiences to their fans.
They do this in many ways, like sharing more video from tours and backstage or by asking fans to help them create artwork for album covers or videos. What these things seem to have in common is that they are attempts to establish deeper connections to the band or artist's community.
Given all that, I'm wondering some things: does a rich experience matter to you, either in terms of enjoying vinyl or CD album art or videos, or in terms of finding a way to interact with a band you like in some new way? Do you seek out or remember those kinds of experiences? Have any unusual opportunities to meet or interact with your favorite artists or music really added to your experience of the music, or otherwise been cool?
And I'm especially curious to know the following: if you could ask your favorite artists or bands for your ideal rich experience of their music, what would it be?
Posted by Michael Zapruder at 12:14 PM | Comments (19)
March 20, 2008
Atlanta recap
We'd like to thank all of our Atlanta listeners who joined us for our "Walk Through the Genome" party at Tree Sound Studios on March 9. It was a pleasure to enjoy the positive live sounds of Laura Reed & Deep Pocket, as well as those of the great new band Folk Festival. We loved getting to meet a great bunch of Georgia listeners, and answering some very thoughtful questions.
You can hear more music from Laura Reed & Deep Pocket in our new video about Tree. Here are some photos from the event, courtesy of Pandora's Jennifer Zeidler:
(above: Laura Reed)
Posted by Kevin at 12:51 AM | Comments (16)
March 18, 2008
Viewer Mail #1
So we thought we'd try something new and start posting video answers to the most common questions listeners have about Pandora. We're going to start doing this regularly.
If you have burning questions, please feel free to post them. We'll keep a close eye on what we're seeing around the blog. Thanks again for being so engaged.
Cheers. Tim (Founder)
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Posted by Tim Westergren at 10:55 PM | Comments (49)
March 12, 2008
Our new video series, "Studio Stories" - first up, Green Recording
Meet the man who is revolutionizing environmentally-smart recording. Paul Diaz of Tree Sound Studios has turned his Atlanta studio into a completely eco-friendly zone. See why artists such as Outkast's Andre 3000 choose to reduce their carbon footprints by recording at Tree.
This show marks the first in our brand new video series called "Studio Stories." We'll be introducing you to many of the people behind the scenes who record, mix and produce the songs you love. Stay tuned as we meet these fascinating musical minds and hear their tales of creativity.
Cheers to Atlanta!
Kevin
Posted by Kevin at 11:47 AM | Comments (9)
March 07, 2008
A new episode of "The Musicology Show": The Trumpet
The trumpet has been with us for hundreds of years. How has time changed the horn? How do you get a tone from that mouthpiece? Does the field of trumpetry require a certain level of masochism? Gene V. Baker gets into the fundamental and higher harmonics, and shows how just three fingers can hit all of those pitches. We also get into the cornet, different mutes, and a bit on the slide trombone as well.
Thanks for taking the time to listen,
Kevin
p.s.: For a free subscription to all of our original video and audio shows... Pandora.com/show.
Posted by Kevin at 02:48 AM | Comments (7)
