Tim Westergren
Chief Strategy Officer and Founder
Pandora
Oakland, Calif.
Pandora (www.pandora.com) is a creative force that marries music and technology. This free, personalized radio can be accessed any time through a variety of connected devices, including computers, mobile phones and automobiles.
Meetings Focus California: In a nutshell, explain Pandora and the Music Genome Project.
Tim Westergren: We power Pandora with The Music Genome Project®, a deeply detailed, hand-built musical taxonomy comprising up to 450 individual musical attributes. These attributes cover every detail of melody, harmony, rhythm, form, instrumentation and vocal performance—representing the musical “DNA” of a song. Each song enrolled in the Music GenomeProject® is manually analyzed using this template by a trained musician on staff at Pandora. It is the most comprehensive such effort ever undertaken.
Listeners have the ability to further personalize their Pandora stations by giving a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to every track, making the experience unique to every individual listener.
Currently, listeners are spending more than a billion hours a month enjoying music and comedy on Pandora.
MFC: Why did you choose to base your operation in California?
TW: California, and particularly the San Francisco Bay Area, is very distinct for two reasons: It has an incredible pool of talented folks that spans all the skill sets you need and an entrepreneurial culture that celebrates innovation and risk-taking. It’s a place where adventurousness is accepted and encouraged, and where you can easily find a great team to take the leap with you.
MFC: Have you learned anything via the Music Genome Project® with regard to how music helps spark creativity in the workplace or in a meeting setting?
TW: Barely a day goes by that we don’t hear testimonials from listeners about the impact of Pandora on their personal and professional lives. It’s clear that music helps people in every possible way: creatively, socially, spiritually and more.
Whether it’s DJ’ing the company party or helping bring focus to the programmer on a deadline, music gives people the lift they need. It also brings people together, sharing common tastes and new discoveries. It’s hard to imagine any workplace—or gathering of any kind—without music somewhere in the mix.