Creators Blog

As I mentioned in my previous blog post celebrating Pandora’s 20th Anniversary, Steve Hogan, the Senior Director of Music Analysis (and my boss), happens to be the most senior member of the Pandora staff, clocking in at the quarter century mark, making me look like a noob with my mere twenty-one years. According to his memory, he was the 18th music analyst hired to the company, back in September of 2000, roughly nine months after the founding of the company.

Steve leading an important meeting

As you may be aware, Pandora is currently celebrating its 20th birthday! Before Pandora’s historic launch as the one of the first personalized online radio platforms, we were a company called Savage Beast. And Savage Beast’s big idea was something called The Music Genome Project.

 The Music Genome Project has been extensively covered here and elsewhere, but, in a nutshell, Savage Beast’s founder, Tim Westergren had the idea that if you analyzed music on a song-by-song basis, that information could be used to create playlists that would help listeners discover new music they loved.

The Music Genome Project worked, and here we are twenty years later, one fifth of the way to building the hundred-year company that Westergren envisioned.

San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers/Contributor/Getty Images

This was not my first visit to Nashville, but it was my first time attending Americanafest. My friend and coworker and fellow musician (and awesome podcaster) Dan and I went this year to promote Pandora AMP. Dan had previously participated in Americanafest. But my history with the genre had me sort of lamenting that I should’ve started attending a long time ago. Back in the mid 1990s, my first job out of college was with The Gavin Report, a now defunct music trade magazine. I worked my way up to Associate Editor for Rob Bleetstein. If his name sounds familiar, it’s probably because he’s the voice of Pearl Jam Radio on SiriusXM. But back then, Rob was the very first person to chart Americana radio singles. This was 14 years before Billboard published their first Americana chart. Needless to say, he introduced me to a genre of music that changed my life – for the past three decades, I’ve been playing/recording/touring in twangy rock bands and writing about the genre. So yeah…I finally made it to Americanafest this year. Better late than never.

As Music Analysts here at Pandora, we hear a lot of music. Like… a lot. Almost exclusively new releases, spanning a wide spectrum of genres. There’s an in-house tally where fellow employees share their total Pandora listening hours for the week, and let’s just say, any one of our analysts would be top contenders if it included our work-listening. This might sound like bragging, but no more so than a dentist telling you they see a lot of teeth.

The long and short of having all that music pass between your ears, is that you might occasionally spot certain trends as they emerge in real time. One of our analysts, Hannah Glass, sensed a pattern developing among some recent hits.

See if you can identify what Hannah noticed these three tracks having in common?

Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter

I’m a huge fan of Neil Young. So much, that an old friend once half-joked that Neil Young is my John Lennon. Obviously, I was thrilled to learn that Young’s new documentary and soundtrack Coastal gets released today. Daryl Hannah directed the film and it’s about his post-Covid return to the stage as a solo performer. The soundtrack blends live takes of newer songs and older fan favorites. To my ears, the two main standouts include a haunting, threadbare reworking of “Expecting To Fly,” easily my favorite song of Young’s during his time with Buffalo Springfield. But it was a stripped-down version of “Vampire Blues” that stopped me in my tracks – this performance is peeled to the proto-grunge marrow of vocals and a heavily overdriven electric guitar. It’s a timely translation that features Young crooning over the heavy, tube-driven distortion of “Old Black,” his famously modified 1953 Les Paul, plugged into a 1959 Fender Tweed Deluxe amplifier that’s so hot-rodded, his techs usually train two fans on the back of it, to ensure the amp doesn’t ignite and catch fire. Of course, listening to this incredible rendition of the song just made me want to revisit its origins – and my favorite era of his music – the Ditch Trilogy.

Come see who was featured this month!

Come see who was featured this month!

The AMP team signing off from 2025 Folk Alliance International conference in Montreal, Canada.

If you have a good record collection, Black History Month is every month. But when it comes to the annual calendarized commemoration, I like to hold space for exploring the more classic winding roots of Black music that have helped influence subsequent popular culture. This year, I’m revisiting recordings by those who shaped the origins of Elvis Presley.

Come see who was featured this month!

Every November when we trace our hand with a crayon so as to make an illustrated Thanksgiving turkey, we often forget that Thanksgiving is about so much more than hand turkeys or matching the big brass buckles on our shoes with a bigger brass buckle on our large black hat. You can't spell "Thanksgiving" without the words "giving" and "thanks." So, this season, we are giving extra thanks for music and all the comforts and escapism that it provides.

Come see who was featured this month!

In response to my recent post about identifying songs that create a Scary Mood, someone asked about what the hardest or most time-consuming songs for us Music Analysts to deal with are. It’s a great question, or more precisely, two great questions, because time-consuming and hard aren’t necessarily the same things.

Harvest moons, costume parties, cheap candy, scary movies, pumpkin carving... what's not to love about October? Especially when we're talking about music! For the October 2024 edition of Pandora Picks, we get into some spooky tunes, some new songs, and some old favorites. Here's your bag of audio treats!

Come see who was featured this month!

As some of you may know, there’s a handful of us here at Pandora who have this one-of-a-kind job where we listen to individual songs and identify the musical elements present. We’re called, “Music Analysts,” though that makes us sound either like music industry speculators or white-coated lab techs monitoring oscilloscopes with medical-grade headphones.

During this autumnal, candy-corned season of Samhain, I like to dim the lights and listen to all the “graveyard smashes” that I grew up on. But I also indulge in some horror rock. Not to be confused with gothic rock or "goth," (although it should be noted that some of today’s goth bands like Vision Video are really stepping it up, horror-wise), horror rock has existed nearly as long as rock 'n' roll has. Inspired by horror films and comic books as well as by the Halloween holiday, horror rock is often regarded as "shock rock" and many music historians credit Screamin’ Jay Hawkins as the very first shock rocker. He had a hit in 1956 with “I Put A Spell on You” and he would emerge from a coffin during his live performances that included smoke bombs going off as he howled into a skull-shaped microphone.

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?

Come see who was featured this month!

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.

Come see who is featured this month!

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!