At Pandora.com.
You tell it what you like and then it plays music they figure is that kind... and for each song you can give it a MORE or LESS designation. I'm listening to a free version which is supposed to come with ads, but so far, none. Don't know if they are audio or on screen.
They've tried to create a Music Genome... so far I find I am getting Adult Contemporary meets Classic hits meets urban adult contemporary with only three unfamiliar tracks so far, which I liked. Apparently you can somehow divert to amazon.com to purchase what you like. Not me. I use www.yourmusic.com where the selection is somewhat limited though 5.99 a CD!
No announcers, no formats to infect my programmer's brain. No hype. No contests. But it won't be long before I start to try to decipher the code. It's what 30 years of doing something does.
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I'm writing this hours later.
When you professionally program a radio station, you have to avoid (only) PLAYING YOUR FAVORITES !!! since you represent yourself, and that might not be at all representative of your audience. Believe me, after dozens and dozens and dozens of music tests for all types of audiences in many cities, I can tell you I represent an audience of one.
But now that I am choosing music for the station I have put together on Pandora.com, I can understand how seductive playing your favorite songs on the commercial radio would BE. I LIKE my station. A lot.
Understand that, having been overexposed to commercial radio music for 30+ years for a living, I have an eclectic mix going.
Pandora.com allows users to E mail stations to friends. I expect that simply means it generates a similar playlist to MY taste, for you.
Drop me a comment with your E mail address if you'd like to hear it. It's not an url. It costs nothing. You have to agree to their very benign service terms.
My most popular stations drew over a million people a week. Now... 1. Anybody want some?
Wouldn't it be funny if a groundswell would start and this new format would then be broadcast somewhere... and then eventually corporately ruined!?
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Okay I'm a control freak. I want to balance the mix, tighten the song to song transitions, add some automatic gain control as some cuts are too low in volume. Let's not play two instrumentals back to back. And tempo control the mix better. Let's take the horn bands and mix them so they alternate with the guitar bands. And the thing is called Boz Scaggs radio - there was only ONE Boz cut - there are many more to play. Balance out male and female and group singers. Keep ballads restricted to slower rotations and... uh oh... here I go again.
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