On this historic day we witnessed change. The Vigilant Consumer is not a politically focused blog, therefore I am not referring to a change in policy associated with the new Obama administration. No, I am quite confident that this will continue to be covered ad nauseam by the pundits, talking heads, politicos or anyone who consistently begins a sentence with the words "Look" or "Listen". The change of which I speak, is that of iPod One. Yes...the Presidential iPod.
President Bush, known for his love of mountain biking, loaded his iPod with Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison and the Knack. I can hardly imagine Brown Eyed Girl fueling an intense, heart-pounding bike ride, but I guess My Sharona may have done the trick. President Obama's musical tastes seem to be a bit more diverse, and even if he has to give up the BlackBerry, at least he'll be able to keep the iPod. His top 10 songs are; Ready or Not (Fugees), What's Going On (Marvin Gaye), I'm On Fire (Bruce Springsteen), Gimme Shelter (Rolling Stones), Sinnerman (Nina Simone), Touch the Sky (Kanye West), You'd Be So Easy to Love (Frank Sinatra), Think (Aretha Franklin), City of Blinding Lights (U2) and Yes We Can (will.i.am).
Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, a general love of music is something that unites us all. Why not take the opportunity during this time of change to expand your own musical horizons? There is no better way to do this than with Pandora.com, another service that scores "3 Thumbs Up" on the VC Scale of Love. Pandora's mission is "To play music you'll love - and nothing else." Not only do they keep you entertained by playing new music based on the songs or artists you already love, but they do it for free. If you doubt the results, you better think again. Pandora, also known on as the Music Genome Project, employs a team of highly skilled musical analysts that dissect each song into 400 musical attributes, enabling them to discover similarities and differences among different songs.
Although it sounds terribly complex, have no fear. Once you visit Pandora.com, you'll be rocking out in no time. Simply, sign up for a free account and then create a channel with songs or artists that fit your favorite style(s). Pandora magically begins to play your customized suggestions, and as you rank each with a thumbs up or thumbs down, it learns more about your musical preferences. If you prefer to keep your Bette Midler separate from your Dr. Dre, you can even create multiple stations. As if that's not compelling enough, you can also listen to Pandora when you are on-the-go. It works for free on your iPhone, iPod touch, and other select Sprint, AT&T and WindowsMobile devices.
Happy listening!
No comments:
Post a Comment