Making Music Consumption a Democratic Process
Television and radio have been working to make the consumption of music a democratic experience. MTV's TRL has viewers call in to vote for the program's top music videos. Radio stations, such as Milwaukee's 102.1 FM, insist that their content is chosen by the audience and encourage callers to make requests. Both mediums have called upon their viewers in order to customize content. Formats that enable the interactivity of the audience create a dialogue between the consumers and senders and relays vital information about the preferences of the viewers. The end result is a shift from wide audiences towards targeted niche viewership.
Narrowcasting & New Media
The shift, previously explained, is termed "narrowcasting". Innovations in technologies, products, formats and audience interactivity provide the sender with the capacity to narrowcast. The latest innovations in our newest form of media, the Internet, carry on and enhance the practices of narrowcasting. Pandora Radio embodies the forefront of narrowcasting technologies and formats.
Pandora Radio is a user friendly website which allows its users to listen to commercial free music. Furthermore, Pandora Radio's purpose is to introduce the listener to similar bands, songs, and albums. The site's accessibility is simplistic: one enters his/her favorite song/artist/album and the site plays other songs/artists/albums similar to those typed in. In addition, the user gives feedback on the site's assessment of congruent music by clicking on a thumbs up logo or a thumbs down logo. When the thumbs up is clicked, the site acknowledges that the artist playing is compatible with the listener's taste and saves the song for future broadcast. If the thumbs down logo is selected, the site eliminates that song from its broadcast list. Therein, Pandora Radio offers more autonomy as a self-correcting medium when compared to previous forms of television and broadcast. This is due to Pandora's instantaneous relay of user preference as opposed to prior networks and stations relying on the audience to call in.
A Postmodern Light on Our View of Music
Pandora Radio has changed the way in which we see music. Its comprehensive database of music transcends genre, image, and consumer group and compares the music on its fundamental levels (melody, harmony, rhythm, lyrics etc.). One can witness less limits being placed on the options of music disseminated in this medium when considering that the content of other networks and stations is still determined by the criteria of genres and demographics etc. The capability of Pandora Radio holds in allowing one to streamline their own content is a new phenomenon made possible by the Music Genome Project.
For future reference
Pandora Radio will attain a wealth of knowledge for consulting other stations and networks who are in need of a better scope through which they can understand the preferences of their audiences. The format of this site illustrates the direction of narrowcasting in new media, making its existence highly significant for the sender and receiver.
