Pandora radio is something that I use every single day. It is awesome, because it can be used to soothe a crying baby, to start a dance party with your toddler, to liven up a family house-cleaning session, to help your workday go smoothly, to keep you company while you work or fold laundry, and to provide themed background music to any party. With Pandora around, I no longer rely only on CDs and AM/FM radio for my music. Founded in 2000, Pandora is still going strong and growing in its popularity every day. Nielsen ratings cite Pandora as one of the top five most downloaded apps for all types of devices and smartphones. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Pandora, it is an application that allows you to create personalized “radio stations” that play only music you like. First, you go to www.pandora.com to sign in. Singing up for a basic subscription is absolutely free, and allows you 40 hours of listening time per month, with ads. Once you have signed in, you can create a “station” by inputting a song, artist or genre. From there, you can give songs played a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” in order to refine the station, and the application will respond by playing music more in tune with what you like as it gets this information. The sound quality is very high on Pandora, compared with other online radio stations, and is really top notch if you upgrade to a Pandora One subscription, for $36 per year. Also, with a Pandora One Subscription, you have the added benefit of being able to listen to an unlimited amount of music (more than 40 hours per month) with no ads. The selection of music impresses me, as I am constantly looking for new music to play for my kids and guests. The only weakness is that Pandora doesn’t have as much international music as last.fm does, for example, but I see Pandora’s collection growing daily before my eyes and ears.
Pandora can be used on a wide range of devices. In our home, we have Pandora on our desktop computer, on our TV (see above), and on our smartphone. We use the Pandora app on the smartphone in the car on long rides. If you have little kids, the children’s lullaby channel is brilliant for lulling them to sleep, as is the Mozart and Beethoven channel. The possibilities are endless. You can listen to anything and everything from Spanish pop to French rap to Baroque chamber music to obscure bluegrass and classic rock. I recommend using the “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” buttons as much as possible to really create stations you like. I like quiet and peaceful silence just as much as the next mom, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t go one day without Pandora. It can have a calming influence on your whole family as much as it can get everyone riled up for a good dance-a-thon or party game. And with the music on, I find that kids don’t really want the TV on, so Pandora even leads to more creative play time in my home. I recommend Pandora for any mom who needs inspiration for more songs to sing to her son or daughter, to any mom who wants to avoid having the television on during the day but wants some background music, to any mom who wants to help her kids discover a wide variety of music (beyond what is available on AM/FM radio), and to any mom who just wants to get through a day at her cubicle in a good mood so she can be refreshed and happy when she gets home to her family at night.
Who are some of your favorite artists? What songs do you enjoy listening to when you are working or at home with your family?
