Pandora Adds Genre Stations, Celebrates Birthday
(UPDATED) Happy Birthday To Pandora, Happy Birthday To… Okay, I'll Stop.
Just when you thought that you already had 101 reasons why Pandora is pretty awesome, they've gone and added genre stations to the mix too. These carefully curated genre stations have proven to be a hit with their users and apparently a number of these new stations – specifically "Today's Hits," "Today's Country," and "Today's Hip Hop and Pop Hits" – have risen among of the top 100 most frequently listened to stations on the site. But, that's not all that's happening…
I was not there when she was born, but I love Pandora just the same. Birthed into the world from private beta to public on a cool summer day on August 29, 2005, the adored online radio site has since gone onto gain over 48 million users and has been called "The Kleenex Of Music Discovery." In fact, I'm listening to one of my favorite stations on the site right now. A little Burn Down The Mission anyone?
The site turns five-years-old this week and founder Tim Westergren must be a very proud father. Having survived Hell, high credit-card debt, and licensing fees, Pandora has become a profitable venture and is an essential element of the new digital music ecology.
After The Jump, See Panadora's B-Day Present:
The private equity firm Elevation Partners has positioned itself and is considering to obtain a large chunk of shares in Pandora.
Best birthday present ever?
I’ve yet to drink the kool-aide…but I have a terrestrial radio background so I’m biased I suppose.
I prefer rdio/mog/grooveshark & hypemachine
I just noticed the new genre radio stations last week! They’ve always had genre stations but the new ones are more sophisticated. They cull new music in a way your own created stations wouldn’t. It was one of the weaknesses of Pandora that you couldn’t tap into what was new at least on a consistent basis. I would also add that the Today’s College Indie is a good station, and there are a lot of choices for world music.