From The Curators

Long before the inception of Pandora, I can vividly recall the very first thumbs-down that I gave to a song. It also happened to be my first time butting heads with my parents on musical taste. It was Christmas of 1980 and my father had just dropped the hi-fi needle on a scratchy 45-rpm copy of Engelbert Humperdinck’s “A Night To Remember.” Even though I was only nine-years-old, I knew before the first chorus that I didn’t like his voice.

“What is this?” I asked. My father replied, “It’s my favorite Christmas song by Engelbert Humperdinck.” I remember suddenly laughing uncontrollably.

“What? What’s so funny?” My dad demanded. “That’s not his real name,” I insisted. Now my father’s face was starting to redden as he retorted, “The man has a terrific voice. He’s English…just like The Beatles!” …
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In response to listener feedback we’ve grown our Latin Christmas offering this year.  We are pleased to feature some of the most requested music of the season, guaranteed to bring joy and happiness to all of your December celebrations. There’s nothing quite like celebrating Christmas by indulging in the vast repertoire of recorded holiday music, evoking sweet nostalgia and memories of family and friends.

Navidad Latina offers a mix of Latin genres and artists, from up-tempo dance tracks to more subdued interpretations of classic Latin American Christmas music. There’s a little something for everybody here – you’ll find artists such as Luis Miguel, José Feliciano, Gilberto Santa Rosa and Jerry Rivera.

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You may ask yourself, “Am I the only one that becomes totally obsessed with Christmas music?” Rest assured you are not alone – welcome to the holiday season at Pandora! Every year we see a tremendous spike in holiday music listening, and it has not gone unnoticed by the curators here at Pandora. We invite you to get into the spirit with some of familiar favorites and new holiday station additions.

To check out a full list of Pandora’s holiday-themed genre stations visit: http://www.pandora.com/music/holiday.

Christmas is by far the most popular holiday station, featuring all of the classic holiday tunes. Listeners have also been enjoying holiday music across a wide variety of genres such as Classical Christmas, Country Christmas and R&B and Pop Holidays. This year you can also celebrate the holidays with Indie Holidays, Rockin’ Holidays or Family Christmas.

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It won’t happen again for 70,000 years. Thanksgiving 2013 has a special twist; Hanukkah begins on Thanksgiving this year, some are referring to this occasion as “Thanksgivukkah.” Naturally, Pandora curators have taken advantage of this once-in-an-eternity opportunity to commemorate these two popular family holidays, both of which focus on gratitude. What better way to celebrate and say thank you than with music?

We have two genre stations fitting for the occasion, both of which have been spiced up for 2013. Thanksgiving Day Radio can be your soundtrack during the day, whether you’re relaxing or cooking, and Hanukkah Radio can be the accompaniment to dinner.

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It was 1983; I was in seventh grade, a year equally filled with excitement and fear. It was the year that I left my left my Bay Area private school for public school, leaving a sheltered bubble behind for a school with scary looking longhaired kids in denim jackets, Mötley Crüe and Iron Maiden patches. It was the year that I would attend my first ever school dance.

Have you ever had an old song transport you back in time to the moment when it soundtracked an important part of your life? Pandora’s Class Of 1983 station not only reminded me how much awesome music was born 30 years ago – everything from Madonna’s eponymous debut to Slayer’s first album Show No Mercy – but a lot of these songs pulled me right back to the year I became a teenager.

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As a college student in the early-2000s I would kill time between classes by heading to the local record shop and scoping the overwhelming batch of new releases. I still remember that killer autumn of ‘03 when The Strokes, Elvis Costello, Belle & Sebastian and Outkast all hit. Many of these songs are still on heavy rotation for me – it’s hard to believe that was ten years ago!  The fall of 2013 has the potential to be another memorable year for music across many genres.  Everyone from Jay-Z to Jimmy Eat World, Hanson to Daft Punk released new material this year and that’s not it – there is a massive list of artists slated for end-of-the-year releases.

New music is set to drop from some of the industry’s biggest names this year: Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, M.I.A., Drake, Eminem, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Keith Urban, Sting, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Cher, Celine Dion, Chris Brown, Pusha T, Future, Kings of Leon, Pearl Jam, Arcade Fire and Arctic Monkeys. Joining this group of heavyweight releases are debut studio albums from some of 2013’s most talked about up-and-comers including Lorde, Haim and Icona Pop.

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