#Pandora radio coupons code
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So in 2005 Tim Westergren co-founded Pandora, which uses Music Genome Project data to generate the custom playlists that users start by typing in a single artist, genre or composer.

#Pandora radio coupons license

These scores are fundamental data points that the algorithm uses to determine song matches.Īttempts to license this music recommendation data to outside companies met with tepid response. To that end, they hired musicians whose job it was (and still is) to listen to each song and describe it using as many as 450 pre-determined attributes, each of which is to be given a numerical value. You can read my comparison of personalized stations between iTunes Radio, Pandora and Spotify to see how each service fared head to head.Īlthough computer algorithms would be used to create these musical matches, the Music Genome Project team decided that decoding a song's 'DNA' required a human touch. While on a per user basis this data is obviously attractive to advertisers (Pandora also offers a paid ad-free subscription option) when you combine it in aggregate among the entire user base and then couple it with the company's unique song classification system you've got a formidable lead in song recommendation that may prove difficult for even Apple to make up.

#Pandora radio coupons code

In addition to data like age, gender and zip code that you provide at signup, Pandora tracks not only all the songs you've liked (thumbs up) and hated (thumbs down), but where and when you listen and which devices you use to do so. Pandora's chief edge over rival streaming services lies in its eight-year cache of more than 200 million users' listening habits.

To do this consistently requires big data and the ability to leverage it in meaningful ways. Indeed the most attractive premise of streaming radio - and the area where Pandora excels - is that listeners can create stations that play songs matched to their individual tastes, with only minimal user input. Pandora has garnered its sizeable following by impressively delivering on its promise to 'give people music they love'. But the Oakland-based company's advantage over its competitors - which now include Apple' s iTunes Radio - goes beyond monthly listener metrics. With a monthly audience of more than 72 million active listeners, Pandora's lead in the streaming radio market is a significant one.