Pandora music service

Just like anyone else, I installed Google Talk (smetty on Gmail, if you want to add me), but I had more fun discovering Pandora this weekend.

I read something about it on Scoble’s blog about a week ago, and applied for an account (invitation only). Two days later, the invitation had already arrived.

How does it work? You start with choosing an artist or a song. The service then creates a station that plays songs that are similar.

I tried a similar service before: Last.fm. I played with that for a while, but I didn’t feel the need to keep on using the service. Maybe the same thing will happen with Pandora. It’s to early to predict if there’s enough variation in the music they play. There’s already 2 things I would like to change: make it a standalone application and stream it on my airport express.

But I do believe this application will have a great future. First of all, it’s a legal application. It’s not possible to play a specific song, and you can’t rewind a song. More important, you can buy every song on Amazon or Apple iTunes. The preview of Pandora is free, once Pandora is publicly launched, you will have to subscribe (annual for $36 or 3 months for $12).

I choose “More than this” in a cover version off the 10.000 Maniacs as my channel. Viking has already tuned in. During the preview, friends you share a station with, also join the preview. So if you are interested, just reply with a valid emailadres. I have 24 channels to share. Once you have the invitation, you can create your own station. But hey, Smetty.fm sounds good.

Update 31/08: the sharing option changed a bit “Your friends do not need to be Pandora subscribers to hear your station. They can enjoy a 10-hour free trial, or begin a subscroption any time”.