Difference between revisions of "Pandora"
| Line 14: | Line 14: | ||
'''Replicability'''<br /> | '''Replicability'''<br /> | ||
| − | Pandora is not highly replicable. Unlike services such as [https://www.spotify.com/us/ Spotify] which allow you to create playlist that will be stored on the site, Pandora creates radio stations that you can return to, but that will not be replayed in the exact order with the exact songs as before. | + | Pandora is not highly replicable. Unlike services such as [https://www.spotify.com/us/ Spotify] which allow you to create playlist that will be stored on the site, Pandora creates radio stations that you can return to, but that will not be replayed in the exact order with the exact songs as before.<br /> |
| + | |||
| + | '''Reach and Mobility'''<br /> | ||
| + | Pandora enjoys a great deal of reach and mobility because it is easily accessible for anyone with internet service. Also, it only takes a smartphone to have access to pandora everywhere you go. | ||
<references /> | <references /> | ||
Revision as of 20:49, 30 October 2013
Overview
Pandora is an online service that recommends songs to the listener based off of a starting choice. The primary goal of the service is to provide the listeners with songs that they may or may not know that they like. Pandora is able to do this through the Music Genome Project, a comprehensive analysis in which data was collected on a large quantity of music and compiled into a database. [1] The Music Genome Project has 400 musical traits for every song entered in the database that it uses to bring listeners similar music to their initial song choice.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many Thus, when a song or artist is chosen on the service, data is pulled from the Music Genome Project to identify the next song choice.
Pandora is only available in the Unites States, Australia, and New Zealand. [2] The service is owned by the company Pandora Media Inc., and it offers the product as an application on most smartphones. Pandora is offered in two ways. Users can listen for free with advertisement, or they can subscribe and fully join the Pandora community with an advertisement free experience. Also, Pandora allows users to jump from the service to another location, such as iTunes, where they can purchase the songs they are listening to.
Communication
Pandora does not have a featured medium to communicate directly on the site. The most communicative feature on the site is that users are able to follow the music feeds of friends and comment on their selections. In this way, users can discuss music they enjoyed or hated. A more social way to use the service would be by tying it to one's Facebook. Pandora allows users to share what they are listening to on their Facebook profiles; thus, opening up the music selection as a platform for communication on Facebook.
Digital Media Characteristics
Nancy Baym highlights seven key aspects of digital media in her novel, Personal Connection in the Digital Age: interactivity, temporal structure, social cues, replicability, storage, reach, and mobility.Pandora, being a music entertainment service, applies primarily to only a few of these aspects.
Interactivity
Pandora is certainly an interactive form of digital media. The whole concept of the service is to personalize music selection for the individual user. Thus, by selecting certain songs and responding thumbs up or thumbs down to a given song, the user interacts with the service in order to create an ideal station. Traditional online music sites such as Rhapsody simply present the user with stored music to choose from; whereas, Pandora interacts with the user to personalize a music station.
Temporal Structure
Pandora has a synchronous temporal structure, meaning that it reacts immediately to adjustments. When the user enters in a new station or wants to skip a song, the medium reacts instantaneously.
Replicability
Pandora is not highly replicable. Unlike services such as Spotify which allow you to create playlist that will be stored on the site, Pandora creates radio stations that you can return to, but that will not be replayed in the exact order with the exact songs as before.
Reach and Mobility
Pandora enjoys a great deal of reach and mobility because it is easily accessible for anyone with internet service. Also, it only takes a smartphone to have access to pandora everywhere you go.
