If visitors were to walk around CHS halls during lunch, they might take note of students’ often unusual lunch choices and seating arrangements. However, the most prevalent aspect of a student’s lunch routine is plugging in and tuning out.

Music is an important part of most teenagers’ daily lives. Over the past few years, many music sites have popped up and become popular because they offer alternative ways of listening to music without having to pay or download. One such website is Pandora.com, which uses the Music Genome Project to create a completely unique Internet radio experience.

According to the official Pandora website, the Music Genome Project analyzes distinct musical characteristics in the songs users like or dislike, leading to songs being chosen that reflect the listener’s taste.

Pandora users create up to 100 stations and perfect them so they play whatever music is desired. Don’t like a song? Click the “dislike” button, and it removes the unwanted track from that station, ensuring a pleasurable listening experience. 

Pandora has many benefits. It creates the perfect radio station; one that plays only the music one likes and that can be listened to for completely free. Illegal downloading is not required to listen, and neither is buying an overpriced song.

Pandora does have its downsides; there are commercials in between every few songs, and skipping only works for six tracks, then an hour must pass before a song can be skipped again. There is a daily skip limit of 12 songs.

However, a normal radio does not have the capability to skip one song, let alone seven or eight. It gives listeners more control over what they want to listen to, and gives them full-length, high-quality music. It gives them songs that are similar to their favorite bands, which leads to finding more music that they are interested in and expanding their musical knowledge.

Besides, every radio station has commercials; it’s a necessity in a world where companies need advertisements for revenue. Pandora’s commercials are quick and far between, optimizing listening experience.

There are other websites that are similar to Pandora. 8tracks.com is one such website where users can make and share their own mixes of songs, with playlists made to fit certain moods. However, Pandora gives an endless stream of diverse music. If a user wants to listen to music, but cannot decide if they want indie rock or upbeat pop, they can make a station with a mix of both, sit back, relax and bask in the variety. 

Although Pandora.com may not be perfect, it does everything it is supposed to do — provide a customized Internet radio experience that entertains the listener again and again.