Music, Film & Media: Farewell Pandora

I was introduced to Pandora, by previous Bit-Tech employee Ryan Garside, who is now better known for jaunting around London in a mankini. If you've not used it, it is streaming radio station with a difference. It is based around the Music Genome Project, which is a complex database of artists, with submitted information by multiple listeners where as you can predict similar artists and tracks that the listener will like, and play them.

Sounds too good to be true, but It has been surprisingly accurate, bringing up band after band that I like. In the past year, I have discovered more new bands and bought more CDs than I have ever done. Aside from a few web adverts, it is entirely free - you can skip tracks, and have as many "stations" as you like, including shared stations of different genres.

Unfortunately, despite large popularity, the music industry just doesn't feel this business model is working in their favour. Pandora has been forced to shut in every country except the US - and it may only be a matter of time before they shut down there too.

Tim Westergren, Pandora founder

We have been told to sign these totally unworkable license rates or switch off, non-negotiable...so that is what we are doing. Streaming illegally is just not in our DNA, and we have to take the threats of legal action seriously. Lest you think this is solely an international problem, you should know that we are also fighting for our survival here in the US, in the face of a crushing increase in web radio royalty rates, which if left unchanged, would mean the end of Pandora.

I e-mailed Tim and was impressed to get a speedy response back from another Pandora employee, where he offered to refund my subscription (having paid the $36 to remove the adverts). I guess that's just the kind of guys they are and I wish them the best of luck.

So if your IP is not of USA origin, as of January 15th, you will no longer be able to use the service. Of course, as techies, I'm sure you all realise there are many ways to masquerade your UK IP address