Pandora: Radio That Only Plays Music You Like

Scenario: When you listen to the radio you only hear one song in every ten that you actually like
Solution: Pandora creates personalized radio stations based on your favorite songs



Everyone suffers from irrational fears of some kind. Maybe it's heights, or water, or enclosed spaces - I even knew somebody who was scared of rabbits. But for me, perhaps one of my biggest fears is being stuck on a bus for 4 hours with nothing but CD 101.9 Smooth Jazz to keep me company. Truth be told, the sound of The Commodores or whoever else sneaks onto their playlists would make me want to lay under the bus in the middle of I-78.

But that's the problem with radio. You listen to a playlist created by somebody else and you have no idea what may or may not be piped through the speakers.

Which brings us nicely onto Pandora a site that has been around a while now, but still features on my "Web essentials" list. Pandora is a Web radio service that creates personalized radio stations around your favorite artists and songs. So if you happen to be a big fan of Michael Bolton, Pandora will play a steady stream of songs that are very similar to the leather-faced loose-cannon which is great for you and horrendous for anybody sitting within 10 yards of you.

Pandora also offers a mobile version which functions in exactly the same way and there's also a whole host of social networking features to let you share your music and stations with friends and to connect with others.

Check out the video above for a walk-through of some of Pandora's basic features.