[Chrissy Scivicque]

If you haven’t used Pandora before, you’re really missing out. It’s a free online radio station that you create yourself. To start, you just select the name of a song, band or artist you like. The system then creates an entire radio station, just for you, full of songs that are in a similar genre. You have the power to vote things up or down (by saying you like something, it tells the technology it’s on the right track – by saying you don’t like something, it switches gears). It’s SO cool! I have about ten stations set up and they’re all really different. For example, I set one up starting with the song “Johnny Angel” so that station plays oldies – a mix of 50’s and 60’s tunes. Every once in a while it veers into the 70’s and I have to tell it “I don’t like it” which pulls it back to the genre I want. The system is constantly bringing new songs into rotation, keeping it interesting all day long. And there are NO COMMERCIALS! I open Pandora in the morning and keep it going all day long. All you have to have is an internet connection.

I used to think I really hated working with music on, unless it was classical (no lyrics to distract me). But recently I’ve realized it can make such a difference in my day and my mood - especially the oldies. Those tunes just energize me! If you’ve been working in silence – it’s time to liven things up! Give it a try and see how it works. If you prefer to work without the distraction of music, you can use Pandora at home. It takes almost no time to set up, it’s free and you don’t even have to enter your email address or anything. Give it a try and report back. I guarantee you’ll love it!

[Lauren Elder]

Just recently started using Pandora and it's awesome. I've found a lot of new artists that I like. I thought listening to music while I work would distract me but surprisingly, it keeps the stress down and seems to make the day go by smoother.

[Libby Huffman]

Ok, I just read the post and went to the site and whaddya know, it's like it's in my head playing the exact mix I would hand pick. Even the songs that don't exactly get a ton of radio airplay and live versions that I love are coming up. This is great.

I have about a billion mp3's, but I don't want to put them on my computer because they take up too much space and slow it down a ton, so this is an awesome alternative!

Can you hear me singing?

[mike3381]

Sadly my work blocks the website but I'll have to check it out when I get home. Sounds pretty neat.