A Net full of Walls - RIP Pandora, gone but not forgotten..

Pandora got me back into listening to new music in a big way and today is a very, very sad day for me. Not in the sense that I personally won't be able to use Pandora (after all I am a nerd and know what a proxy server is) but in the sense that the internet has lost something very special... like when Napster got shut down, the first really mainstream file transferring software, and the bovine masses were stumped as to where to find their illegally downloaded music from.

Today, Pandora.com officially closed its servers to IP addresses outside of the US. Previously a simple Google for "zip code" would bypass the US check but now, due to increasing pressure from the RIAA and increases in running costs associated with that pressure, they have implemented IP filtering to direct regionalised content. This means more revenue for the RIAA and publishers (like the artists benefit one bit...), more work for Pandora for less money and a bit "Fuck You" to anyone outside the US until they get the advertising/content manipulation right for your country.

This is also the first time I've thought about how easy the Pandora algorithm would be to seriously manipulate by the RIAA, or a significant sponsor now that they have buckled into the pressure and lubed themselves up. Pandora already do it somewhat by trying to integrate bands that are currently touring into your music; if you click "Now Touring" and buy a concert ticket, you help support Pandora and the system works. Imagine what we are install for when EMI or one of the big labels put enough pressure on.

What you'll end up with is deals where if you say your favourite band is signed to Sonys Columbia record label, Pandora will be contracted to filter in another 3 songs signed to Columbia in the next hour or so. Thus increasing the chance you'll buy a CD off their label, thus making them more money. Add that to the increased fees associated with an Internet radio station and you can see the only winner here is the "Industry" i.e. the Man, not the artists, and certainly not the end users.

I've found some great new bands listening to Pandora, bands whose CDs I'd actually buy too. I heard an artist I actually thought was Ben, thumbs upped the great, thumbs down the shite and been actively involved in using it. Admittedly I'm probably the kind of user they don't want using their service (as my Firefox browser has a lot of Ad blocking software) but the service was great, and one that I've spread to friends and family. Funny how in an age of global connectivity, word of mouth is still one of the best advertising methods.

Unlike Pandora, I had moved on from using Napster when it got shut down, and was already well into the realms of Kazaa and eDonkey as my file sharing application of choice. Today is a very sad day for the internet (in what has been a sad week for digital rights and wrongs - Google "HD DVD encryption key" fiasco if you don't already know) as Pandora really doesn't have anything like it, let alone better and easier to use.

I genuinely wish in all the hours of listening, I had set up one of the programs to rip out the MP3s it plays and stored them myself, but even with that the mixing wouldn't be the same...Winamp still has a laughable random() function and iTunes is horrid, horrid bloatware!


Pandora, you were my first internet radio love... I am heart broken that you've jumped into bed with someone else, and of all people, with my arch enemy, the RIAA and its whole board of members, you filthy slut! I'm going to try and climb your internet (drain) pipes and trick you into taking me back, but your disloyalty has jaded our relationship and shown me your true colours. It looks like I'm back to shuffling it myself, but thank you for being my first... x