Internet radio has been around for awhile, and I used to listen to internet radio while at work or while surfing the web at home but now I’ve found something better and still free.  I’ve been using Pandora for about a year now, have probably listened for hundreds of cumulative hours over that time, and in my opinion Pandora beats all internet radio competitors, hands down.  The reason Pandora is so much better is because intelligent internet radio that only plays music that you want to hear.

Using Pandora

After signing up you will be prompted to create your first Pandora station (you can create as many stations as you like).  To begin you type in the name of a song or artist that you like, and that artist (or something very similar) will start to play.

While the song is playing you have the option to indicate whether or not you like the song by clicking the “thumbs up” or “thumbs down”.  Clicking the thumbs down will stop the current song, and start playing a new song.  Over time (but very quickly) Pandora is able to make really good song selections for you and even suggest new artists that you might not have heard of yet.  So the more input you give to Pandora, the better Pandora is able to play music that you like.

You can make many different stations (for different genres, etc.), and even share your stations with your friends or listen to their stations.  Be sure to check out my stations on the right, and then sign up to create your own.

Take it With You

If you have an iPhone, Blackberry, or other phone with Windows Mobile you can listen to Pandora on your phone.  Pandora is also available on other phones if your service provider is AT&T or Sprint.  See if Pandora is available on your phone here.  There’s even other devices to listen to Pandora around the house without having a computer in every room.