I saw a few references at DH regarding Pandora (http://www.pandora.com/) but I thought it deserved its own thread. Anyone use it? I just found out about it yesterday. So far I am impressed. I am not looking for specific music and this seems to beat most of those streaming radio stations hands down.

Here is the FAQ (http://blog.pandora.com/faq/) for those interested.

Yeah, Pandora is awesome. LastFm is supposed to be good as well. I haven't used it yet though because Pandora is so good.

Pandora is really good and I was quite impressed with the selections it gave me.

After debate, I stuck with Launchcast because of the greater volume of recommendations and the greater amount of music available.

If you like Pandora, have a look at Open Pandora (http://openpandora.googlepages.com/).

Allows you to listen to pandora without having to use IE and assign keys so you can control Pandora on an HTPC with a remote control.

Very sad news for Canadian Pandora fans... :(

Today we have some extremely disappointing news to share with you. Due to international licensing constraints, we are deeply, deeply sorry to say that we must begin proactively preventing access to Pandora’s streaming service for most countries outside of the U.S.

On May 3rd, we will begin blocking access to Pandora to listeners from your country.

:(

Still working here. Maybe by tomorrow.

http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9715445-7.html?tag=head?tag=nefd.aof

http://photosandponders.blogspot.com/2007/05/pandora-to-block-international.html

I haven't tried yet as I'm at work and pandora is blocked by my employer. But this is really really sad news if I get to lose it. :(

Looks like Rogers' new 99.* IP block is a mixed blessing. Can't access some sites (i.e. www.costco.ca, but it's also not seen as a Canadian IP by Pandora. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Im with Videotron, still works fine for me ... To bad it will go away, the RIAA is a real mafia :( Rhapsody is also deactivated for Canada.
Aside from last.fm, there ain't much alternatives left
Patrick S.

I've seen a number of streaming music services that have been blocked for Canada and other non-US listeners. The only answer answer is to boycott the companies and agencies responsible (especially their Canadian counterparts) and let them know why. Maybe they will get the message and stop restricting internet access to their sites. Paying customers have clout. Let them know! :cool:

Very sad news for Canadian Pandora fans... :(

Today we have some extremely disappointing news to share with you. Due to international licensing constraints, we are deeply, deeply sorry to say that we must begin proactively preventing access to Pandora’s streaming service for most countries outside of the U.S.

On May 3rd, we will begin blocking access to Pandora to listeners from your country.

:(
Here is a solution to this problem

http://franticindustries.com/blog/2007/05/03/how-to-access-pandora-from-outside-the-us/

It is getting really annoying that the World Wide Web is not so worldwide anymore! More and more content seems to be restricted by country - Pandora, TV shows at places like NBC.com, online streaming of the Masters, the BBC, etc. not to mention web sites that require a US credit card which is an whole additional issue (i.e. iTunes for TV shows).

Lots of folks talk about net-neutrality, but what about a border-free net?

All I can say is -- still works here (Langley/Shaw). For some reason my account profile says I live in Lynden, WA.

The issue isn't the network, it is simply rights for content and services that are exclusively licensed for a particular market. Those services using the world-wide internet to distibute their licensed content is beside the point.

I just received the dreaded email today:

Today we have some extremely disappointing news to share with you. Due to international licensing constraints, we are deeply, deeply sorry to say that we must begin proactively preventing access to Pandora's streaming service from Canada. We began blocking access from almost all countries outside the U.S. last week and had originally hoped to maintain access to Canada. However, it has become clear in the last week that we just haven't been able to make enough progress to continue streaming.

....

We show your IP address is '99.245.*.*', which indicates you are listening from Canada.

...

Consequently, on May 16th, we will begin blocking access to Pandora to listeners from Canada. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative.

:(

There are proxy that will let you get a US IP address

They don't work from my workplace. They're blocked, but Pandora was not. It was great radio to listen to while working.

I got the email yesterday as well. It's rather ironic since I just signed up last week. I also tried Last.fm and Live365. I opted for Live365 since I got a 1/2 price subscription offer just after signing up and like the music and sound quality better. I also have a Musicmatch subscription, which is similar to Pandora and Last.fm. Unfortunately. Musicmatch seems to be going down hill after being acquired by Yahoo.

Well, I miss Pandora at work. The RIAA killed a great promotional engine for their music. Artists really make their money on merchandising and concerts so radios are really promoting them and yet radio stations have to pay for the privilege to promote them. Through Pandora, I listened to many artists that connected with my taste and I don't think I would've discovered them otherwise. And I bought their songs on iTunes as well. It's too bad. The RIAA is killing what could work in their favor.

Sad new indeed. This was a great site. There's bound to be something similar springing up somewhere, though.