Pandora Helps the Digital Immigrant Discover New Music

I made a musical discovery this week, four weeks into my Digital Marketing Communications class. Sure, I have streamed audio onto my computer from radio stations that were simulcasting their on-air signal, and I’ve downloaded music to my iPod. But I really have never been a big consumer of Internet radio. That could soon change. I’ve discovered a service for those of us who aren’t afraid to try new technology but would like a little help. We’re the ones who love our Smartphones like the iPhone and all the apps that can be downloaded on them. The service? Pandora, a personalized music streaming site: http://www.pandora.com/#/stations/create.

What I like about Pandora is it simplifies the online music-listening experience. Based on the Music Genome Project begun in 2000, Pandora is the most thorough analysis of popular music ever undertaken. Each song in the collection is analyzed by one of more than 35 trained musicians, and assessed against up to 400 distinct musical attributes such as melody, harmony, and rhythm. This is great for music fans like me who like listening to new and upcoming performers, particularly ones I might hear on West Virginia Public Radio’s Mountain Stage (http://www.mountainstage.org/). With Pandora, when I enter an artist's name or a song title, Pandora automatically suggests similar tracks and builds a playlist. Listeners can then accept or reject the suggestion. Pandora remembers the responses and then will fine-tune subsequent recommendations.

I liked discovering this service, but it made me stop and think about how much the music industry has changed. I remember as a child in the ‘70s, buying a Kiss album, my first venture into rock-and-roll. No more bubble gum pop music for me. I listened to that album for hours, learning songs that had yet to make it on the radio. I still have that album (and a turntable to play it on). Kids today don’t even buy CDs anymore; they only buy songs they like from Internet sites, so they don’t get the experience of discovering other songs that could become their new favorite. That’s what technology has done.

The music industry is not unlike many businesses going through a transformation because of technology. Wired’s Eliot Van Buskirk (2009) called today’s use of social media by artists "music’s curse and salvation." With music now being distributed on social networks, radio no longer is the only place to hear new music for free.

Such changes in consumer behavior ultimately forced historic Tower Records to close in 2006, (The Associated Press, 2006). Social media and the digital distribution possibilities it offers has empowered a new generation of music fans as well as musicians. Performers like Taylor Swift appeal to fans directly on social sites such as MySpace, bypassing traditional record label distribution avenues. Music industry executives should embrace this consumer change, and work with it and adapt, or they will find themselves in Tower Records’ unenviable position – simply put out of business.

References:
ACountry.com (2008). Retrieved September 15, 2009, from http://www.acountry.com/music/taylor_swift.

Van Buskirk, Eliot (2009, April 9). Social Media Networks Are Music’s Curse and Salvation. Wired. Retrieved September 15, 2009, from http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/04/social-networks.

The Associated Press (2006, October 10). Tower Records Victim of iPod Era. Retrieved September 15, 2009, from http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/News/TowerRecordsToClose.aspx.