What Is Pandora Radio?

Overview

Pandora Radio is a free Internet radio provider. Only available in the United States, Pandora has a music search engine and also allows the user to create radio stations unique to themselves.
Function

Pandora Radio lets the user search by song, artist or composer. It also allows users the option of creating stations of their own.

Features

When a user creates a radio station, it will play the music from the favorite artist of the user's choosing. It also allows the user to mark if he likes or doesn't like specific songs or artists. The station also plays other songs and artists that it judges similar to the user's tastes.
Potential

A group of technologists and musicians formed The Music Genome Project on January 6, 2000 in order to analyze the harmony, tone, rhythm, lyrics and all other elements of music. It is this analysis that is used to determine suggested songs for the user.
Benefits

If the user likes a particular artist or song that is being played, Pandora offers a link to buy it through Amazon.com, Amazon MP3 or the iTunes Store. It also supports itself through ads on the site. However, Pandora does offer a fee based service that is free of ads.
Geography

Pandora Radio is currently only licensed to provide music to users in the United States. It verifies the users' locations through IP checks.