I am comedically curious.  A modern Lucille Ball, if you will, a comedic Pandora waiting to open my box of what to behold in modern day comedy.

I was on Pandora’s website and decided to create an account for my comedic persona, Khara Cara, so my friends and fans could listen to the music I like, but I wanted to share with them the comedy I like and that’s when I got the idea, “What happened if Pandora had a comedy station?”

After creating an account, I got an automatic email which was an incredible example of amazing customer service:

Welcome to Pandora

Thanks so much for joining Pandora! We’re very happy to have you on board, and we look forward to providing you with endless hours of great music listening and discovery.The Music Genome Project has been a 10-year labor of love, and we hope you’ll enjoy the results.

To keep up on the latest happenings at Pandora, please visit our Blog (and please comment, we read everything!):

http://blog.pandora.com/pandora/

You can also reach Tim on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/timwestergren

For tips on how to have the best experience possible on Pandora, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions section.

http://blog.pandora.com/faq/

Great to have you as a listener!

Cheers,

Tim
Founder

Jem & Ryan
Listener Advocates

I’m thinking, “Awesome! I can read Pandora’s blog, contact Tim the founder directly on Twitter, AND (most exciting of all) see if their Music Genome Project can apply to comedy.  After all, I’m already a self proclaimed comedic analyst, let’s see if I can do for comedy what Pandora has done for music.”

I decided to contact @timwestergren, the founder of Pandora after @pandora_radio started following me on Twitter.  I want to see what he thinks about having a comedy station for Pandora.  Who knows, he might think it’s a stupid idea or a great one.  Truthfully, I’m just curious to find out if I can have a personalized radio experience that plays comedians I love, and nothing else.

So how was Pandora made possible? What I learned about Pandora is that it all started with the the Music Genome Project.  This was the important information I took away from it:

Each song in the Music Genome Project is analyzed using up to 400 distinct musical characteristics by a trained music analyst. These attributes capture not only the musical identity of a song, but also the many significant qualities that are relevant to understanding the musical preferences of listeners. The typical music analyst working on the Music Genome Project has a four-year degree in music theory, composition or performance, has passed through a selective screening process and has completed intensive training in the Music Genome’s rigorous and precise methodology. To qualify for the work, analysts must have a firm grounding in music theory, including familiarity with a wide range of styles and sounds. All analysis is done on location.

The Music Genome Project’s database is built using a methodology that includes the use of precisely defined terminology, a consistent frame of reference, redundant analysis, and ongoing quality control to ensure that data integrity remains reliably high. Pandora does not use machine-listening or other forms of automated data extraction.

Now, it seems that all I have to do is create the same system for comedy/comedians.  I have no idea right now how I’m going to do that, but it sure doesn’t hurt to ask if it’s possible.  I’ll see if @timwestergren has something good to say about it.

Tim, if you’re listening, I’m going to look over the Pandora FAQ page, ie the “Pandora and the Music Genome Project” and the “Musical Terms Glossary,” and see if I can answer each FAQ in the context of comedy.  In other words, translate the answers of the FAQ’s to comedy.  

Wish me luck people! I’m literally going to try to curate this and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get what I want!   Listening to a station with comedians I love, and nothing else.