We've hunted down some truly excellent children's music for our collection, and our Music Analysts have spent months listening to every one of these songs. They've categorized the songs along hundreds of musicological traits so playlists are kid-friendly, musically interesting, and combine a great mix of familiar songs and fun new discoveries.

With Pandora's built-in variety, never again will you have to listen to the same CD on repeat for weeks at a time. Anyone who's under the impression that most children's music is cheesy or that there isn't much out there, is in for a treat.

Steve Hogan, our Music Operations Manager and co-curator of the stations below, has been listening to these stations with his 4-year-old son Brady. He hands the iPhone over to thumb-happy Brady, who has become quite enthusiastic about crafting his personal radio station. Sometimes he thumbs downs a song after only a few notes, but he's always decisive. :) At left, he's giving a thumbs up to a Raffi song.

If your child has a favorite children's artist, start a station from that artist's name. Or, read on to try some of the kid-tested stations Steve and I made for you.

Radio for Kids --- Meant for kids 7 and under, this station is fun, educational, and not too baby-ish. For kids who are moving on up from Toddler Radio. Many musical genres are included here, and due to the variety and quality of songs, it's enjoyable for kids and adults!

Rockin' Kids Radio --- Meant for kids 7 and under. This one is my personal favorite; an energetic station good for dancing, room-cleaning and high-energy play. This station is a winner for kids (and adults!) who love upbeat music. Rock out, kiddos.

Toddler Radio --- Meant for kids 4 and under, this station is educational and fun! A variety of toddler-friendly themes and music genres are explored. Look for Sesame Street, Disney, & The Wiggles among others. :)

Sleepy Time --- Meant for kids 5 and under, this station is designed to prepare your tyke for a nap or bedtime (or any time you want to bring the energy level down a notch). It's full of mellow sounds and sweet lullabies.

Kid's Folk Music --- Meant for kids 7 and under, this station features quality kid-friendly folk music. It's a pretty mellow station... a nice quiet-time alternative to Rockin' Kids.

Tween Radio --- Meant for ages 8 to adult. This station is appropriate for those too old for children's music but a bit too young for rock 'n' roll's more adult themes. It includes pop music like Miley Cyrus, the High School Musical cast, The Jonas Brothers, and the cast of Glee.

Personally, I'm thrilled we've been able to fulfill this frequent listener request.
And for "aunties" like me, it's very handy to have all this children's music right at my fingertips.
Enjoy!

:) Lucia
(community manager)

This show was edited and recorded by Tyler Brown at Bellboy Recording, a studio that has served as home to many fine Bay Area jazz recordings.

As always, it's free to subscribe to "The Musicology Show" in iTunes or in any other feedcatcher (Google Reader, Juice, etc.)

Just scroll down on the main podcast page to hear those 50 earlier episodes, or jump straight to the category pages for Composition, Styles, Singing, Instruments and Rhythm.

Merry Christmas and all that jazz.
I hope you're enjoying the holiday season so far!

Here's some great holiday stations we've made for you:

Rockin' Holidays

Peaceful Holidays

Swingin' Christmas

Jazz Holidays

A Classical Christmas

There's many more holiday stations, including Hanukkah, here.

To make your own holiday station from scratch, all you have to do is type in the name of an artist + the word holiday. Like so:

Ray Charles Holiday

Nat King Cole Holiday

Harry Connick Jr. Holiday

Vince Guaraldi Trio Holiday (A Charlie Brown Christmas!)

Mariah Carey Holiday

Vienna Boys Choir Holiday

Or, you can start a station from a holiday song, picking which version you'd like:

White Christmas

Angels We Have Heard On High

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Santa Baby

From all of us here at Pandora to all of you out there enjoying the music, Happy Holidays!

-- Lucia
(community manager)

Also known as "The Festival of Lights," Hanukkah begins this year on December 11 at sundown.

This is a special, curated station that solely features Hanukkah-related music. While you won't be able to personalize it like other Pandora stations, we hope that the music we've collected adds to the fun and festivity of your celebrations. Enjoy the music, light the lights, and have a wonderful Hanukkah.

Jem
Listener Advocate & Hanukkah station music curator

...For those who are looking for Christmas music, you'll find some here.

BUZZZ BUZZZZ! You poke your head out of the sleeping bag to discover your cell phone vibrating; it's already 5:30am. Most of your three hour "sleep" was spent wrestling with your host's Labrador on the living room's shag carpet; apparently he isn't into sharing his floor.

We all have reasons to be thankful: for our health, for our families and friends, for our jobs if we're fortunate enough to be employed, and for any number of other blessings.

As Americans, however, we can also look at this day as an opportunity to be thankful for being Americans, and as a chance to thank those families who sacrifice on our behalf. Without military families -- not just those in the armed forces, but also their relatives, who move from base to base with or without the servicemen and servicewomen they love -- this grand American experiment in multicultural democracy and free speech simply wouldn't work.

This week's station is a party station, and it's all about being Thankful. The station is based in soul and funk music; both are styles of music that Americans helped bring to the world. Turn it up, dish up some more stuffing, and let's bring those troops home safely. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

--- Kevin
(executive producer)

Enjoy!

--- Michelle S.
(assistant music curator)

Harmony is meant to correct any discord which may have arisen in the courses of the soul... rhythm too was given for the same reason... ---Plato

It is by the Odes that a man's mind is aroused, by the rules of ritual that his character is established, and by music that he is perfected. . . . ---Confucius

The Culinary Metaphor Pt. 1: Music and Nutrition

In my previous post I wrote about using food metaphors as a kind of oblique strategy for discussing music. Let's get more specific, to explore the method to this madness. Today's angle: nutrition.

Music: Nourishment and Poison

The American Heritage Dictionary defines nutrition as "the process of nourishing or being nourished, especially the process by which a living organism assimilates food and uses it for growth and for replacement of tissue."

Plato and Confucius would have liked that. For them, music existed to guide and improve human beings, and the right and wrong musics created good and bad people, respectively. Medieval musical thinkers and composers avoided the tritone (the augmented fourth interval) because many thought it to be of Satanic and therefore dangerous origin. And in the 1980's, Tipper Gore's PMRC based their campaign to place parental warning labels on recordings on the idea that it is necessary to "protect" listeners from certain kinds of music.

It is important to celebrate the springboard of the weekend... Friday! Not only do Fridays complete our work week, they are manifestations of our own unique mini-vacations. From partying to relaxing, we all have our own way of enjoying our much deserved days off from reality.

In this mix you will find a range of songs that all have a common ground of inspiration. Connecting us with friends, love, good vibes and freedom, Friday is the universal day that we long for each and every week.

The goal is to keep you out late. Meet that someone special. Let loose on the dance floor. Reconnect with old friends and reminisce in the midst of creating new memories. Roll down your car windows and turn up the volume. Turn off the tube, put your feet up, and do your thing. Just make sure your weekend is memorable!

--- Daniel J. Craig
(music operations, ripper)

Is There an Animal in your Band Name?

Enjoy!

--- Michael
(music curator)

The term baile funk was used originally to describe a type of dance party that started happening in the favelas (ghettos) of Rio in the 70's. Funk, r&b, and soul music being produced by American artists like George Clinton, James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye and Isaac Hayes had a strong voice with the people who populated the favelas. This music not only had relevant social messages, but grooves that were explicitly crafted for dancing.

I think everyone should have a walk-up song (now batting...), even if it rarely gets used. I also like to think that if the right song is played at the right moment, it can actually influence the outcome of the game. While this is debatable, the significant role that music plays in the modern arena or coliseum is not... for better or worse.

This collection delivers all your standard coliseum anthems, along with a nice stack of other, relatively unknown gems. While the music represents a wide variety of musical styles -- including rap, rock, punk, metal, funk, film score, and electronic/dance -- they all have one thing in common: energy.

Recommended for play while: tailgating, applying paint to your face and/or body, getting pumped to deliver a presentation at work, entertaining during the holidays while sports are on TV, stuck in traffic trying to get to the game, in the locker room prior to a big matchup, performing a victory dance, clapping in unison, playing dunk hoops on a 6 foot rim, working off the calories from aforementioned tailgate, and any situation that requires an elevated state of personal or team mojo.

For best results, play at a high volume on big speakers.

--- Addi
(dance collection manager)

--- Kevin
(executive producer)