Pandora is stretching its wings a bit, expanding its stellar recommendation engine beyond just music and into stand-up comedy. Categories range from PG to “working class” to “urban”, or you can sort by a favourite comic.
It seems like a terrific idea, although breaking up an act into a bunch of disjointed bits takes away from the ebbs and flows that separate mediocre comedians from memorable ones. And when you sort by decade, the material is disarmingly dated. Dick Cheney jokes! Still, hooray variety and all that. Besides, your Mitch Hedberg station should prove pretty timeless. [Splitsider]
PANDORA DEBUTS personalised COMEDY
Just like music stations on Pandora, comedy stations can be personalised to each individual’s taste
Powered by the Comedy Genome Project™
Listeners can create comedy stations based on their favourite comedians, or on popular genres such as political comedy, working class comedy, PG comedy, or comedy from the 2000s, 60s and 70s, or 80s and 90s
OAKLAND, Calif. MAY. 4, 2011 – Pandora, the popular internet radio service, today announced that comedy is now available on the service where radio stations can be created and personalised.
Pandora, known for pioneering personalised music listening and discovery, is broadening its array of content to include comedy in order to meet the requests of its listeners. A team of Comedy Genome Project analysts at Pandora has analyzed thousands of performances to capture their comedic style and content. Additional comedic material is being analyzed daily.
Pandora Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Tim Westergren said, “Pandora is about creating a great, personalised radio experience. Comedy is a natural part of that experience, and it’s something our listeners have been asking us to deliver for a while. We are delighted to now be able to give people a mix of familiar and new comic material that they’ll love to listen to.”
Starting today people can listen to comedy on Pandora in the same manner that they listen to music: by choosing a favourite artist or genre as a seed to start a station and then giving thumbs-up or thumbs-down feedback to shape the station to their individual taste. Like music stations on Pandora, comedy stations will play the seed artist and related material.
John Hyde, Vice Chairman of Image Entertainment, Inc. said, “Everyone knows Pandora – it’s unique in the entertainment industry for personalizing the radio experience for listeners and enabling talented artists to discover audiences that will love their music. Image is delighted that our comedy content is being included in the Comedy Genome Project and believe that Pandora’s reach with so many listeners offers an unprecedented opportunity for all comedians. It’s going to be fascinating to see how personalised radio tackles the comedy listening experience, it’s a new frontier and we’re excited to be a part of it.”