FYS thingamabob

Pandora, in a nutshell, is an internet radio site. However, it works a bit differently than other internet radio sites such as Last.fm and Rhapsody. While most internet radio sites categorize songs based on genre, ratings, or “people who listened to this also listen to this,” Pandora does not. Rather, Pandora uses an innovative approach to playing songs on a certain station that you have created. There are actually people who work for Pandora that are experts on music theory. These people analyze the musical structures in the songs you “like” and play songs with similar structures and characteristics.

The birth of Pandora began with 1988 Stanford graduate Tim Westergren. Westergren began his career as a musician performing around the country, and later moved on to compose for movie scores. He developed a process in which he would allow his clients to listen to CDs and then choose songs that best reflected the mood they wanted to convey in their films. In 2000, his initial idea for marketing his approach was to use it as an option for websites to match their music for their customers; then in 2005, he decided to market it as a free internet radio.

Thus, Pandora was born.

The most interesting part of Pandora and what goes on behind the scenes of Pandora is the Music Genome Project. The Music Genome Project is an effort to classify songs using over 400 “genetic markers” that, when applied to a song, create a taxonomy of music.  As stated earlier, the way Pandora “works,” and what also sets it apart from other internet radio websites, is that there are actually people who are experts on music theory who listen to songs and analyze them.  They pay attention to various traits such as composition, arrangement, melody, harmony, rhythm, and lyrics, and that is how their music taxonomy is developed. The Music Genome is not just a single set of traits that the people at Pandora base each song off of. Different types of music require different “genes.” World music would have a much broader range of instruments used than pop. On the other hand, the rap genome would have much more focus and detail on lyrics than pop because the songs are structured around the lyrics, so the characteristics, or the “genes” would be based on rhyme schemes, rhythm, and wording.

The Music Genome consists of over 400 musical attributes that cover the qualities of melody, harmony, rhythm, form, composition, and lyrics. It is based on analyses by actual humans—around 20-30 minutes per four-minute song—over music of 10,000 from the past 100 years.

You start off by creating a station. When you open the Pandora website, the first thing you see is the player. You type in an artist/song in the main field of the player and click “create.” For example, when I type in the artist Owl City, Pandora will analyze the various musical traits for that song and play other songs with similar traits.

When you create a radio station, Pandora pulls up the Genome analysis for a song that fits the characteristics of the artist/song you selected. It runs an algorithm that compares songs in the Genome database to the genetic makeup of that song to find songs with similar traits. A few of the parameters that are looked at when putting together a Pandora playlist include:
· arrangement- the selection and adaptation of a composition or parts of a composition to instruments for which it was not originally designed
· beat- the regular pulse of music
· form- the structure of a composition, the frame upon which it is constructed; based upon repetition, contrast, and variation
· harmony- the concordant (or consonant) combination of notes sounded simultaneously to produce chords
· lyrics- the words of a song
· melody- a succession of tones comprised of mode, rhythm, and pitches so arranged as to achieve musical shape
· orchestration- the art of arranging a composition for performance by an instrumental ensemble
· rhythm- the subdivision of a space of time into a defined, repeated pattern
· syncopation- deliberate upsetting of the meter or pulse of a composition by means of a temporary shifting of the accent to a weak beat or an off-beat
· tempo- the speed of the rhythm of a composition
· vamping- to extemporize the accompaniment to a solo voice or instrument
· voice- the production of sound from the vocal chords, often used in music; falls into six basic categories defined by pitch, ranging, from bottom to top: Bass, Baritone, Tenor, Contralto, Mezzo Soprano, and Soprano

Here is a longer, yet not complete, list of musical parameters used to come up with the “genetic makeup” of a song.

Using our example of Owl City, let’s look at how Pandora would play songs similar to Owl City’s songs. Owl City’s music features electronic influences, subtle use of vocal harmony, extensive vamping, and synth rock arranging, or as I always put it, “a cross between The Postal Service and Deathcab for Cutie.” Pandora will pick an Owl City song at random—for example, “Captains and Cruise Ships.” The next song it plays is The Maine’s “I Must Be Dreaming.” If you click on the “Menu” button and select “Why was this song selected?” it will give you a brief explanation of why it was played—in this case it says, “Based on what you’ve told us so far, we’re playing this track because it features punk influences, a subtle use of vocal harmony, mild rhythmic syncopation, acoustic rhythm piano and intricate melodic phrasing.”

Notice how it says “based on what you’ve told us.” Pandora wants its listeners to give feedback so it can refine the station based on their likes and dislikes. You can either “like” or “dislike” a song—if you “dislike” a song, Pandora will never play that song on your station again and will play songs that are genetically similar to that song much less. If you “like” a song, however, Pandora will play that song more often, and continue to play songs that are genetically similar to that song.

Pandora’s innovative approach to internet radio has not only introduced me to new artists and styles, but it has also introduced me to new ways I could add depth to my music. Pandora, in many ways, helps add diversity to the music I write. Because I discover so many new artists through Pandora, I also discover new sounds and new things I want to incorporate into my own writing. Pandora works through people listening to songs and analyzing them based on various components such as arrangement, lyrics, melody, rhythm, tempo, etc. There are many instances where a song plays on Pandora, and I like it and want to incorporate some of that song’s elements into my own music. With tools like the “Why was this song played?” button, where you can read a brief explanation of why the song was played and how its characteristics are similar to the ones that the listener has responded well to, I can look at those elements are try to work that into my composition and my style, and diversify the music I make. For example, I’m really big on acoustic material, and I recently made a station based off of the song “Maybe” by Ingrid Michaelson.  Her music has traces of folk roots and usually has a major key tonality (basically, it sounds more happy than sad), yet the music I write is a little more on the emotional side. Other songs that play on Pandora, such as Colbie Caillat’s “Magic,” are also some of my influences. So I can include the parts about their music that I like, such as more pop rock qualities of Colbie, and maybe some of the more folk/acoustic roots of Ingrid.  I would just play around with it till I have a song that sounds good to me, and has the influences of music I like and would like to model my music after. Pandora allows me to explore different styles and helps me discover new music from artists I didn’t even know existed, yet make music that I would definitely listen to. And with the discovery of new artists comes new influences for my own music, so I am able to grow as an artist as well.

Basically, I made a rough “map” of the two songs that influenced me on Pandora—“Sway” by The Perishers and “It Stops Today,” by Colbie Caillat. Using the list of genomic traits, I picked out genomic traits I noticed in each of the two songs. Some of the traits included acoustic rhythm guitar, acoustic rhythm piano, lyrical melodies, lyric-centric composition, repetitive song structure, and pop rock qualities. Upon making this list, I composed a song (music and lyrics) that included many of the qualities my “influence” songs had. Then I made another “map,” this time of my own song. I listed genomic traits I noticed in my song, all of which were derived from the genomic trait lists of the two “influence” songs.

Pandora is much more than an internet radio website. In a way, one could say it is a new form of communication—people are able to share their stations and share their own unique musical tastes. Pandora allows its listeners to suggest songs and even submit songs to be played, which contributes to Pandora’s wide variety of music ranging from well-known artists to obscure ones. This is the great thing about Pandora—it is not like commercial radio, where songs must be “radio-friendly,” and meet radio-friendly standards. While it may be true that viewers do have a preconception of what they want to hear (for example if a listener creates a Lady Gaga radio station, he/she probably has more pop-oriented, well-known artists in mind), Pandora does not take obscurity/popularity, or typical connections listeners make with various artists into account—it is solely the song structure. Mcluhan made the statement that “the medium is the message.” The medium is what influences the way people think. Pandora is a medium that has greatly influenced the way I, and other listeners, view internet radio, and music in general. While many listeners are distracted by the content of the medium, in this case the music played, they are not aware that the music being played and the playlists being formed are influenced because of the unique way Pandora works. The Music Genome Project is a great influence on the way composers think as well because of its innovative approach to music listening. It acts not only as a medium, but as a tool to aid composers in writing their own music.

And last but not least, here is the link to my website where I explain more of the Pandora Music Genome Project, how it is a compositional aid, and videos of the songs that influenced me and my original songs, and “maps” of their genomic traits.