Pandora Music gets a face lift....

I don't know how long ago I decided to create a user account at Pandora, but I forgot about it until a friend of mine mentioned it again. He's become a serious fanboy of the site (but he's a frustrated musician from way back) and we chatted about it, why he liked it, what makes it different, that sort of thing.

What he mentioned to me as a reason why he likes it -- is because of the variety of music available, the way they "serve" the music and how you can refine your "preferences". Also, he purchased the Squeezebox for home listening - and just loves it.

Now just in case you don't know what (or who) Pandora is, here's their background (from their site)....

When was the last time you fell in love with a new artist or song?

At Pandora, we have a single mission: To play music you'll love - and nothing else. To understand just how we do this, and why we think we do it really, really well, you need to know about the Music Genome Project©.

Since we started back in 2000, we have been hard at work on the Music Genome Project. It's the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Together our team of fifty musician-analysts has been listening to music, one song at a time, studying and collecting literally hundreds of musical details on every song.

It takes 20-30 minutes per song to capture all of the little details that give each recording its magical sound - melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, lyrics ... and more - close to 400 attributes! We continue this work every day to keep up with the incredible flow of great new music coming from studios, stadiums and garages around the country.

With Pandora you can explore this vast trove of music to your heart's content. Just drop the name of one of your favorite songs or artists into Pandora and let the Genome Project go.

It will quickly scan its entire world of analyzed music, almost a century of popular recordings - new and old, well known and completely obscure - to find songs with interesting musical similarities to your choice. Then sit back and enjoy as it creates a listening experience full of current and soon-to-be favorite songs for you.

You can create as many "stations" as you want. And you can even refine them. If it's not quite right you can tell it so and it will get better for you. The Music Genome Project was founded by musicians and music-lovers. We believe in the value of music and have a profound respect for those who create it.

We like all kinds of music, from the most obtuse bebop, to the most tripped-out drum n bass, to the simplest catchy pop tune. Our mission is to help you connect with the music YOU like.

We hope you enjoy the experience!

It's very cool - music served specifically to you. Different "stations" based upon your mood (I've got one for easy listening, one for harder rock, one for contemporary jazz, one based upon the music listened to when I lived in Boulder). I can listen to music when I'm at work, cruising the net, and right now while blogging.