In praise of Pandora.

• Author: Puterbaugh, Dolores T.
• Position: PARTING THOUGHTS - Music Genome Project

ONE FRIDAY EVENING, we were lounging around with hot cocoa listening to the recording of the performance of the Catholic Mass, "To Hope," written, arranged, and performed by Dave Burbeck and a host of vocalists and musicians. The fact that we were listening to this, and not to some other form of music, may be traced back to the Music Genome Project and Pandora.

Begun in 2000, the Music Genome Project is an ongoing exercise in analyzing music, both old and new, according to a complex taxonomy, including up to 450 different factors. Specialists analyze each piece of music and assign it values within these factors. Pandora is the end-user's website that depends on the Music Genome Project. Its sophisticated programming allows you to pick an artist with whom you are familiar-Vince Guaraldi, in this case--and enter his or her name into Pandora to create a customized radio station that links that musician with others based on similarity across the hundreds of characteristics. You can give each piece a thumbs-up or -down; I recommend against going with the latter because the reaction is extreme (along the lines of, we' re sorry and we'll never play anything like that for you again). Of course, I might want something like that played again. I learned the hard way that indicating I did not like a particular song inadvertently might cut me out of an entire family of music.

That Pandora exists is a miracle of intelligent analysis, modern computing, and dedication. It is an antidote to the dearth of variety in radio. It seems there really are only about 10 music stations in this country, with the exception of small, widely scattered indie outlets. The few major broadcasting corporations have swallowed the market; the playlists are constricted; and the opportunity to discover new, or new-to-you, music, was fading. Enter Pandora, stage right.

Presently I am listening to my custom station "Chris Comell Radio"-the former and once-again lead singer for Soundgarden, solo artist, and lead for the former band AudioSlave. The song playing right now has been identified by the Music Genome Project as having, among other characteristics, melodic songwriting, an emotional male lead vocal, and subtle vocal harmonies. For those of you thinking, "Soundgarden?" this variety in the artist's work explains why the next song may be by Nell Young, or the Beatles--or, conversely, by a heavy metal band connected to Mr. Cornell in the Music Genome via his work with Temple of...