by Edgar Frost

Created on: November 10, 2008   Last Updated: August 27, 2011

As someone who loves music and computers, online radio and music discovery sites are right up my alley. Not only do these sites allow me to listen to a limitless collection of music, they also broaden my musical horizons and help me find new musicians to enjoy. There have always been ways to discover new music. You can go to the local record store, check out Myspace Music, Yahoo Music, Spiral Frog, or just listen to the radio. The problem is that these methods aren't focused, and in the end, they are not very efficient either.

So, what is a rabid music fan supposed to do to satisfy their need for new music? The best way is to check out Pandora, which is quite possibly the best music site on the internet. I've seen all the popular music sites, and many of the not so popular sites, and Pandora is in a class by itself. Your journey at Pandora begins my typing in one of your favorite musicians. The site then looks for other musicians whose music shares similar attributes. The assumption is that since you like a particular musician, there is a great chance you will also like other musicians whose work shares similar characteristics.

Notice how I said characteristics and not genre. Pandora's song selection is based on a reseach project called the Music Genome Project which sought to listen to a multitude of music and make note of characteristics such as arrangement, melody, orchestration, lyrics, and vocal harmony, among others. Basically, it is a musical version on the Human Genome Project, but instead of looking for the characteristics of DNA, they studied the characteristics of songs. Instead of being concerned with Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, and Guanine, they were concerned with instrumentation and harmony. Basically, Pandora is to music what Watson and Crick are to genetics.

In addition to discovering great new music that you will probably like, Pandora has many other great features. You can create up to 100 different radio stations and listen to one or have a quick mix of selected stations. There is also an extensive collection of artist biographies, blogs, and the ability to find other listeners with similar musical tastes as you. If you're a music fan, Pandora has everything you need and a lot more you will enjoy discovering. Pandora is also available on several mobile devices such as the iPod touch and many cell phones, so you can take your new music with you.

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