# www.pandora.com **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 26, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002 "2006-03-26T22:04:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/1 "2006-03-26T22:04:17Z")
(Brought to mind by [this thread.)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=364414) For those of you not familiar with it, [http://www.pandora.com](http://www.pandora.com) is a service/program designed to take your current musical tastes and, based on that, recommend other acts you might like. So start with Nick Cave and it might play… uh, I dunno, Leonard Cohen. You can then individually give each song a thumbs up or thumbs down to help steer it further. In practice, it tends to start wandering rather far afield if you don’t keep a rather tight rein on it. So–personal experience here–you might start out with Parliament/Funkadelic, and wind up with Justin Timberlake. :smack: So, there’s two questions here: 1) Has anybody had much luck keeping this beast under control? and 2) Given that you started with artist x, what’s the strangest thing you’ve had come up? P-funk —\> J. Timberlake is the best I can personally remember right now, though I did have some interesting experiences by starting with Johnny Cash. ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/2 "2006-03-26T22:16:05Z")
I use it at work instead of transporting my music there with me, and no, I generally find it is very widespread in its learning algorithm. What they’re seeking is really cool, but without some form of genre filtering, they cross genre a great deal. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/3 "2006-03-26T22:17:02Z")
> [@Lemur Catta](#): > > So, there’s two questions here: 1) Has anybody had much luck keeping this beast under control? and 2) Given that you started with artist x, what’s the strangest thing you’ve had come up? P-funk —\> J. Timberlake is the best I can personally remember right now, though I did have some interesting experiences by starting with Johnny Cash. (1) Yes. The best way (I’ve found) is to use multiple, individual (and similar) songs in order to keep it corralled. This method has generated multiple “new” artists for me. (2) I had Willie Nelson —\> N’Sync. I don’t really know how that happened. There was some odd (and hokey) Willie song that played first, and it just sort of took off on a weird tangent from there. - Peter Wiggen ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/4 "2006-03-26T22:52:47Z")
> [@PeterWiggen](#): > > (2) I had Willie Nelson —\> N’Sync. I don’t really know how that happened. There was some odd (and hokey) Willie song that played first, and it just sort of took off on a weird tangent from there. Dare I say that you’ve already won the thread? I’ve had Nick Cave —\> Blink 182 today, but I can at least see the connection in their punk roots. I’ll have to try that idea about multiple related songs, though–thanks. 🙂 I’m still curious to hear what other odd links folks might’ve had… even if Willie Nelson —\> N’sync is hard to beat. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/5 "2006-03-26T23:07:08Z")
Three Doors Down —\> Blut Hous Nord (some European death metal band I’ve never heard of) ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/6 "2006-03-26T23:12:16Z")
> [@Lemur Catta](#): > > So, there’s two questions here: 1) Has anybody had much luck keeping this beast under control? and 2) Given that you started with artist x, what’s the strangest thing you’ve had come up? P-funk —\> J. Timberlake is the best I can personally remember right now, though I did have some interesting experiences by starting with Johnny Cash. Quick Fix by Foetus to Jordan River [live] by Georgia mass choir?! I put in Rammstein, Apolyptica and Phantom of the opera 😕 ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/7 "2006-03-26T23:14:57Z")
Morphine —\> The Kropotkins Insane Clown Posse —\> Milli Vanilli (?) Pandora doesn’t know what Control Machete is… :dubious: The Bonzo Dog Doodah Band —\> Morphine Rob Zombie —\> Static X —\> Korn (fair enough!) This is kind of fun! Thanks for the link, I’ll be favoriting this one… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/8 "2006-03-27T01:08:08Z")
I feel jealous. I started with Johnny Cash and it’s been pretty mundane so far. The weirdest segue has been to “Hula Love”. But it’s still folksy enough to avoid being bizarre. Still good stuff. Thanks for pointing this out. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/9 "2006-03-27T01:23:41Z")
I went from **Nine Inch Nails** to **Morrissey**. Yeah. _Closer_ to _Suedehead_. I mean, yes, I adore **Morrissey** but I hadn’t even created a “Morrissey Radio” yet. It was a little jarring. At least it reminded me to create a Morrissey Radio station. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/10 "2006-03-27T01:24:08Z")
> [@ronincyberpunk](#): > > … but without some form of genre filtering, they cross genre a great deal. That’s a bad thing? I entered Richard Thompson, and they chose “She Twists the Knife Again”. We’ll see where we go from here. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/11 "2006-03-27T01:28:10Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > That’s a bad thing? > > I entered Richard Thompson, and they chose “She Twists the Knife Again”. We’ll see where we go from here. Straight to “Anthem” by Pansy Division. Umm, not what I was expecting. :eek: Sounds good, though. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/12 "2006-03-27T01:34:48Z")
I’ve found that either the more unique or more obscure the band, the tighter it focuses on a certain sound. Both Iron and Wine and Devandra Banhart produce the same sort of acoustic, folk, mellow sound, as does Mountain Goats now that I think about it. With jazz, too, they keep it pretty tight. Bud Powell usually only produces post bop sounds, kind of like Gillepsie, Parker, and Monk. Jelly Roll Morton does likewise, focusing on New Orleans jazz. Still, it can, as mention, stray a bit. I think I once had Boy Least Likely To turn into They Might Be Giants, but that isn’t so bad. Not nearly as bad as the Willie to N’Sync above, atleast. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/13 "2006-03-27T02:19:20Z")
Well, they only seem to have Richard Thompson defined as from his Mitchell Froom phase. It went nowhere strange; just a lot of rock with harmonic vocals. I’m going to try another one starting with “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis”. Great site!!! I’ve already registered, and I’ll probably be willing to send them some money later on. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/14 "2006-03-27T03:15:56Z")
It’s not big on Australian artists, which isn’t surprising. I’m the only one on Last.fm who listens to Mike McClellan. ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/15 "2006-03-27T12:27:59Z")
> [@Lemur Catta](#): > > In practice, it tends to start wandering rather far afield if you don’t keep a rather tight rein on it. So–personal experience here–you might start out with Parliament/Funkadelic, and wind up with Justin Timberlake. :smack: But isn’t that the whole point of Pandora? That it ignores our preconceived notions of what artists we should like, or which artists are similar to those we already like, and goes for similar elements in the individual song, regardless of genre or identity of the artists? Some of those similarities are not at all obvious. That’s what I love about it. I feel like it’s saying to me, “Forget what you think you know about this artist, we’re going to concentrate on the music. Try THIS.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/16 "2006-03-27T14:44:40Z")
I am so GLAD that a site like this exists. I need to give these people money. I have a hard time getting into music that isn’t on the radio, despite living in such a live-music mecca and having access to stuff like iTunes. It’s a crapshoot for me, but this takes some of the random out of the equation. That said, when I asked it to play me some Steeleye Span, it… played me some Steeleye Span. I guess I can’t argue with that. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/17 "2006-03-27T15:16:27Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Great site!!! I’ve already registered, and I’ll probably be willing to send them some money later on. I agree. It’s a rare site that I find myself standing in line asking where to hand over my money. The Dope doesn’t count. 😛 Temporary insanity! I plead the fifth! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/18 "2006-03-28T00:35:49Z")
I got Buster Poindexer —\> Professor Longhair. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/19 "2006-03-28T00:45:31Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > I got Buster Poindexer —\> Professor Longhair. Maybe it matches on amount of syllables in the artist name. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002/20 "2006-03-28T01:08:30Z")
> [@Monkey Chews](#): > > But isn’t that the whole point of Pandora? That it ignores our preconceived notions of what artists we should like, or which artists are similar to those we already like, and goes for similar elements in the individual song, regardless of genre or identity of the artists? Some of those similarities are not at all obvious. That’s what I love about it. I feel like it’s saying to me, “Forget what you think you know about this artist, we’re going to concentrate on the music. Try THIS.” Yes, but… for starters, once it gets ‘out there’, so to speak, it seems to stay that way. So once my P-funk station turned to Justin Timberlake, I couldn’t for the life of me get it off this modern R&B thing and steered back around into things that sounded more like the funk. I dunno. It’s not horrible, and I’ve found some interesting stuff with it. It just gets frustrating at times. It occurs to me that it might be fun to try to -deliberately- manipulate it; to steer it starting with artist a and see if you can get to artist b. I do have a friend who managed to get it to play something like 7 out of 10 rolling stones songs in a row… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/www-pandora-com/350002.md?page=2)