We’ve crossed the ten-year mark at Pandora. It has been a long and winding road, but never have I been more excited about the future. We’re on the cusp of a massive transformation in the way music is discovered and distributed and everything we’ve done has put us in a position to be the force behind that change.
When we analyzed “Dancing Queen” by Abba (the very first song in the Music Genome Project) we had no idea what lay ahead. We were too naïve to realize just how absurd our idea was. It took about 30 minutes to analyze that single track. We listened multiple times to capture every detail of the recording. Close to 200 attributes were notated using pen and paper, then double-checked by a second music analyst before being transcribed into an Excel spreadsheet. Who knew that this intensive, detailed, manual process would become the foundation for personalized radio.
![pandora_analysts[2]](https://blog.pandora.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/pandora_analysts2.jpg)
And that is where we’re now turning our attention. There are more than 200,000 artists in Pandora’s catalog. The vast majority of these musicians, a sea of talent and untapped potential, have never had any radio play, and never will. There’s simply no room on ever-narrowing FM playlists. But on Pandora they have a home, and with 80 million music fans listening over 20 hours every month, the opportunity for connection is completely unprecedented. We’re gonna build it, and hand them the keys.
We look forward to creating this bright future with you; unleashing the infinite power of music and realizing for each of you an effortless and delightful connection to the best music available, and for every artist, the career they deserve.
Tune in for the next 10 years and be sure to check out Listener Love Day on Wednesday, September 9 – we are excited to have you along for the ride.
Cheers.
Tim