Singer-songwriter Theresa Andersson had just wrapped up a set at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and new fan Dana Spanierman was already planning how she could hear similar bluesy harmonies.

“I’m going to put her into Pandora and see who else I’ve been missing,” the Santa Cruz, California resident said.

Spanierman is one of 125 million registered users of Pandora Media Inc P.N., a service that lets listeners create their own playlists, or “stations.”

Using a single genre, artist or song title that users type into an app downloaded to their computer or smart phone, it compiles and streams songs by a variety of artists who share musical attributes with the one requested.

“It’s a great way of putting in a genre that I like and hearing other bands that I’m not that familiar with,” Spanierman said.

Pandora produces these customized playlists by using technology from the Music Genome Project, an intensive analysis and cataloging of music based on some 450 distinct markers related to tonal quality, rhythm, instruments and style.

The publicly traded company has close to a million songs in its database and streams the music free of charge to listeners, which for Spanierman – who hates paying for music – is a big plus. “It really works for me. I don’t even really mind the commercials,” she said, touching on Pandora’s primary revenue stream.
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