by Ken Moody

Created on: October 24, 2008

Radio first started out with AM, basic but effective. Then FM which allowed for a clear stereo transmission which is used primarily for broadcast of music. Then Satellite radio seemed promising, except for the high cost of monthly prices which drive away many potential listeners. All of these options are good, but I believe that the internet radio is the best way to listen to music for free with minimal advertisements.

The best place for internet radio is Pandora.com. This pioneer in internet radio uses the music genome project (sophisticated music classification process) to select songs that the listener would potentially enjoy. At Pandora.com, you are allowed to create your radio stations. Stations are created by clicking on the "create a new station" button. From there you type in the name of your favorite artist or song, and Pandora will find music that is similar to what you typed in and play high quality tracks that can even be paused or skipped (only a limited amount of skips per station per hour).

Pandora is not only useful for listening to music, but they are also a great place to find new music, that you would otherwise never have been exposed to. If you happen to like a particular song or artist, you can purchase the song by clicking on the buy button. From here you can either choose to download from iTunes, Amazon CD, or Amazon mp3.

At Pandora you are also allowed to say whether or not you like a particular song on a station. If you like a song, you click on a "thumbs up" and the song will be played more frequently on that station. If you don't like a song, you click on the "thumbs down" and the song won't be played anymore on that station. You can also share your radio stations with friends who have Pandora accounts or find other friends shared stations.

Another great feature that is found on Pandora is it's "about that music" section which allows to listener to read about what they are listening to. You can read about the band or artists biography along with specific information about the album of the song. You can also display the music genome project's tags for the songs qualities such as electric rock instrumentation, reggae influences, and subtle use of vocal harmony.

Pandora allows for creating up to 100 stations per account plus on mix station which mixes all of your stations. Pandora uses a simple flash player, and requires no downloads and is absolutely free. You can control volume, pause, or skip a song, as well as view the album art on the flash player. A Pandora application can also be downloaded for the iPhone for listening on the go. If you are looking for a great internet radio site at no cost, Pandora.com is the best on the internet.

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