Tuesday, March 1, 2011

My problem with Pandora

First of all, let me say that I am a huge fan of Pandora Radio. If you don't use Pandora, you probably should. Though, apparently, you can use it too much. I have a friend who recently was told by the site that she had exceeded her monthly usage. Didn't know that was a thing. Be that as it may, I love being able to make my own radio station that will play music I like and introduce me to new bands. I have it constantly playing during the four hours I spend at work each morning.

But I have one major problem with it: the ads. I'm not saying the presence of ads bothers me. I understand why they're there, and I'm not willing to pay a monthly fee to have them go away, so I tolerate having my music interrupted occasionally by 30-second spots. What I wish, though, is that I could somehow decide which ads I get. You know how Hulu occasionally asks you whether the ad is relevant to you? I want that. Because when I'm a receptionist in the front room of my parents' office, I don't want loud advertisements for Trojan's new Fire and Ice Condoms suddenly blasting from my computer. The worst was the two weeks before the movie No Strings Attached came out. Promos for that movie played constantly on Pandora, and about two seconds into it, Natalie Portman practically shouted, "Do you want to use each other for sex?" That does not sound good to passers-by, clients, tenants, the people I'm talking to on the phone, or particularly, my parents. Doesn't Pandora realize that people listen to this at work? Can't they have nice ads for things like office supplies or vitamins? Is that too much to ask?

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