Life of a Sentient Search Engine

Thing #18 for CML’s Learn & Play program is to explore different Web 2.0 tools (and toys).

I looked around on the SEOmoz list of Best Web 2.0 sites. There was a lot of cool stuff there to be sure, but what really caught my eye is a site called Pandora Radio. This site is truly astounding! It allows you to create custom “Radio” stations based on the music you like. Everything you can imagine is in here! From Top 10 Hits to Classical to Progressive Metal, nothing seems to be too obscure. Once you’ve started your station you just listen and tell the site when you like something.

The interface is very slick and compact. I quickly figured out where the basics were and how to navigate around effectively. You can query the system about why a song was selected for you after clicking the “more” button under the album art. You can click on your station name and select “add variety” to include other song/artist styles. You can also go deeper and set up a station in more detail by selecting edit. 

It seems that it becomes harder and harder to impress me these days (a source of some concern). Pandora led me to say “wow” about a website for the first time in a long time. Try it, I think you’ll like it (musicphiles especially). Four Stars!!