Tom Conrad, Pandora Internet Radio
Tom Conrad, Pandora Internet Radio
The “Music Genome Project,” Internet radio broadcasting on your mobile and PC, personalized music selections using 400 categories?
What’s happening to the way we select and enjoy music and mobile entertainment? Whether you’re into rock, gospel, classical, hip-hop or jazz, Pandora Internet Radio wants to help you “play all music you like.”
The Oakland, CA based company streams music to your iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and around 40-50 mobile handsets running on AT&T Wireless and Sprint’s “Now” network.
As of December, 2008, two million iPhone users had downloaded the Pandora application. More recently, over one million BlackBerry users did the same through the BlackBerry App Store.
Pandora claims a base of 27 million subscribers with 3-4 million people listening on their mobile phones and the vast majority tuning in using their personal computers. Pandora offers both a free service, supported by advertising and a $36 a year plan without commercials.
Personalized music selection is the key competitive advantage over traditional radio stations. In fact, while listening to a musical selection, users can retrieve information on their mobile handset or PC telling them why Pandora’s several dozen music specialists selected it: “We’re playing this track because it features major key tonality, string section beds and many other similarities identified in the Music Genome Project.”
In this fascinating, revealing behind-the-scenes look at Pandora, CTO Tom Conrad talks about his early love for music, Pandora’s “one-click” personalized Internet radio service, changes within radio broadcasting and Pandora’s unique approach to music delivery.
Listen as Brian Prows talks with a guy who loves his music and loves his job.
Tom@Pandora.com
Brian Prows on Twitter: (MobiMarketing and MobileBeyond)
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