Pandora's Box

Pandora's Box by John William Waterhouse, courtesy of gods-and-goddesses.com

My friend Johnny, a music aficionado and someone much more technosavvy than I am, introduced me to something so fun last night that I just have to share it!

Pandora Internet Radio. You enter the name of a favorite song or artist, someone/thing that definitively represents your musical tastes. Then based on the qualities of your favorite song, Pandora generates a playlist of music you may never have heard of but will probably love.

Photo courtesy of someone named leedoweeds at flickr.com

If a song comes on that you don't love, you click the little thumbs-down icon, and Pandora apologizes, promises never to play the offending song again, and subtly readjusts the playlist to suit your taste better.

I had so much fun last night that I had to tear myself away from it in order to go to bed.

I have a Cowboy Junkies station, a Cracker station, and a station built around the qualities of Dusty Springfield's "Son of a Preacher Man."
I discovered several great artists that were unfamiliar to me. Ben Harper, for example. And songs I'd not yet heard from artists I already knew, like Tom Petty.

I'm in love with Pandora.

Pandora by Dante Gabriel Rosetti, courtesy of the National Museum of Liverpool