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May 07, 2006
A New Front In The Radio Wars
I've often engaged in discussions with a friend of mine (who's a pro musician and successful recording engineer) about the past, present and future of the music industry--and more specifically the venerable triangle of artist, record company, and broadcast radio.
We've both railed at the long time status quo in which bean-counting record company accountants hold sway over artistic decisions; and we've waxed malicious over the vise-grip that play list consultants have on commercial radio. For the last several years, though, we've wondered and hoped that perhaps the internet might serve as a crowbar to pry the status quo loose from its moorings. We'd begun to wonder if our hope was in vain.
But the internet has finally begun to change the paradigm: more and more artists are marketing their CDs directly through the web. And now Terry Teachout highlights a new internet service that could very well challenge both broadcast and satellite radio, and it brings some very unique features to the table. From Terry's blog About Last Night:
I’ve been playing with Pandora, the new Web-based streaming-audio "music discovery service." Based on a week’s worth of hands-on experience, I’ve decided that (A) it works and (B) it’s going to be a Very Big Thing.To use Pandora, you start by inputting the name of a pop artist or song that you like. This creates a “station” that you can “tune in” on your computer at will. The station then plays a record by that artist, followed by similar-sounding songs by different artists. You respond in turn by telling Pandora whether or not you like each song it plays. At any time you can input additional artists or song titles, which automatically increases the size of your station's play list. The more information you supply about your tastes, the more accurately Pandora can analyze them and select new songs you’re likely to enjoy.
I've tried it, and it's fascinating--very, very fascinating. Don't give it a go unless you have at least an hour to spend.
Have at you, FM radio!
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