Creators Blog

The end of summer doesn't always have to be a bummer! For many of us, it means heartier meals, building fires, football season snacks, changing colors, apple picking, the death of mosquitos, and cozying up with a book...or a playlist! Here are some of the songs that stood out for us this autumn equinox.

Come see who was featured this month!

For lack of a better moniker, it’s National Hispanic Heritage Month (I prefer Latin Heritage Month). And being that I’m half Mexican (the good half!), I wanted to celebrate the present by rocking out to the past. More specifically, my ears were craving some Mexican garage rock, beat bands, and cumbia from the 1960s. So I programmed a playlist: Mexico Rocks The 60s.

In 1994 President Bill Clinton proclaimed September Classical Music Month.

The proclamation read in part: “Classical music is a celebration of artistic excellence…. This month we exalt the many talented composers, conductors, and musicians.”

As Head of Classical Music here at Pandora I strive to feature it all. Whether you’re looking for something to listen to while reading or working, or focusing in and enjoying the detail of each performance. 

Every August it seems like half of us are a little sad to say goodbye to the summer, while the other half looks forward to crisper days and the coming of autumn. This edition of Pandora Picks straddles a similar line with new and old songs, both warming and chill. What songs soundtracked your end of summer?

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Photo by: Emily Rieman

August 26 is International Dog Day! This year also marks its 20th anniversary. The holiday was created back in 2004 by pet lifestyle professional and animal advocate Colleen Paige, who chose August 26 to commemorate the day she first adopted a canine family member. In establishing International Dog Day, Paige hoped to bring awareness to the act of adopting and rescuing dogs.

Come see who is featured this month!

It's the end of July and we're already starting to see "back to school" marketing. But you know what? We're still going to celebrate summertime with some of our favorite songs from the month that gave us fireworks, barbecues, picnics, music festivals, and swim parties.

Did you know that July 2nd is International Mullet Day? With all the 1980s nostalgia-based programs currently playing on various streaming services, you would think that all Gen X-ers grew up dressing like Molly Ringwald and members of Duran Duran, driving Lamborghinis to exclusive nightclubs and art openings. But let’s be honest. While many ‘80s ladies flawlessly flexed that Brat Pack style, a lot of the guys were probably wearing Oakley Blades and Hypercolor tank tops while driving to the mall in a lowered truck with the Top Gun soundtrack blasting from the tape player. And they were probably en route to having their mullets frosted at Supercuts.

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During our annual celebrations of those dear dudes we call dads, it’s quite common to stream some dad rock after firing up the grill and filling the cooler with a couple bags of ice. But for this Father’s Day, let’s pop on our pinched-front fedoras and explore a slightly smoother musical corner of a dad demographic not often talked about in beard-scratching circles: Dad Jazz & Father Fusion.

What was your May 2024 jam? You might notice fewer submissions for this edition, but that's only because a lot of Pandora people are enjoying vacation and the sweet turning of the season. Spring fever aside, our Pandora Picks for May 2024 could be played any time of year... or any year, for that matter!

Come see who was featured this month!

I’ve been waiting for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month to write a little bit about Hawaiian slack key guitar. But honestly, I listen to this beautiful and relaxing genre of music much more than one month out of the year. Whenever I’m feeling stressed or anxious, the watery and ethereal recordings of slack key can loosen my knots and put my hackles down in just a matter of minutes.

Nothing against dad rock, but back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was mom rock that wafted from the family station wagon speakers and created the soundtrack to my formative years. My dad was always traveling for work, so it was really my mom and my little sister who provided most of what I have come to know as quality time. Like a crochet Afghan blanket on the sofa or a warm bowl of chicken noodle soup on a rainy day, mom rock was music that made me feel…mothered. But to be honest, mom rock as a subgenre wasn’t something I even considered until my mid 20s.

Come see who was featured this month!

Happy International Jazz Day!

International Jazz Day is the world's largest annual celebration of jazz that’s celebrated every year on April 30, highlighting jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe. It also marks the end of Jazz Appreciation Month (fondly known as “JAM”). So, what better way to pay tribute to America’s earliest and iconic art forms!

Just like all the new growth that sprouts in spring, April unearthed some blossoming new tunes! Per usual, we also found a few old jams to help score our pre-summer soundtrack. Dial up that volume, grab your garden shovel, and dig what we've been digging! 

According to the internet, April is International Guitar Month 🎸. As far as historians can tell, the guitar goes back to 15th century Spain. But it wasn’t until 1987 when the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) established April as the month dedicated to a stringed instrument championed by classically trained musicians, juvenile delinquents, and everyone in between. 

Spring has sprung! Sure, we have to wake up earlier, but now it gets darker later and the spring isn't just in our step but maybe in our music taste as well. Some of us got to go to SXSW and others have been enjoying live music in other capacities. So, if there's a theme for this edition of Pandora Picks, it just might be the celebration of our love for live music, and how going out to shows is maybe the best way to kick off spring and discover the music that you love.

Listen to Pandora Picks – March 2024

Come see who was featured this month!

Like many of you who attended South by Southwest, our team is still recovering from this year’s awesomeness – an entire week of live music, engaging panels, Texas BBQ, drink tickets, delicious Mexican food, and getting to meet some amazing people. We’d like to send a huge thanks to all artists, managers, labels, and friends who stopped by the Pandora AMP booth in the SXSW green room. In addition to signing folks up for AMP, we were also gifting our latest batch of AMPLI-FIRE hot sauce!

Usually around Saint Patrick’s Day, I see a few playlists that mistake the phrase “pub rock” for Irish drinking songs. But pub rock has very little to do with pennywhistles, wearing green, and binge drinking. Its roots vine back to taverns of the United Kingdom during the early-to-mid 1970s. Back then, the pop scene was overrun by the lavish theatrics of glitter/glam rock as well as the hyper-arranged music of progressive/prog rock. Pub rock started as an organic, reactionary backlash to glam and prog. And some music historians say that pub rock helped spark the sound of English punk.

Fresh Pandora Artist Profile Features: Spotlight Picks, Custom Bios, and Cover Photos

Calling all artists! Millions of listeners visit Pandora Artist Profiles every month, so we’re very excited to share a whole bunch of improvements to Pandora AMP Artist Profiles(link to corresponding amp playbook page) that are designed to make life easier for you and your fans. Take a look at what’s new below!

As most music nerds know (current company included!), it’s difficult to decide what show to see when there are more than a couple to choose from, so if you find yourself at South by Southwest this year, and are faced with literally HUNDREDS of choices each night, we figured it might help to have a little context – and perhaps a bit of guidance.

We got an extra day this February, thanks to Leap Year. That, along with Punxsutawney Phil giving us an early spring made for a Pandora Picks that's a bit longer, lighter and brighter than usual. Dime that volume and click here to dig what we've been digging.

Come see who was featured this month on AMP: Fresh Cuts!

We’re excited to announce a new fresh look and some additional features to Artist Insights in Pandora AMP! Artists can use the Insights tab to view their overall stream data, top collaborations, programming placements, artist metric graphs, their audience map and their top 5 artist tracks across Pandora!

As a lifelong musician, shoegaze was my first love. I tried to get with the Madchester sound, but as a guitarist, I just never was able to bond with wah-wah pedals. Shoegazing seemed to arrive just in time, back in the early 1990s – when grunge was oversaturating the airwaves. Some of us who never even-flowed or snuffed a rooster turned to this innovative music scene that was emerging in England. At first, the shoegaze sound blended the haunting beauty of ‘80s goth with the distorted six-string experiments of indie rock. But shoegaze very soon evolved to take on many different styles within the genre.