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Admittedly, I am a Pandora Radio Addict. When I first learned about Pandora.com, I also asked the question, "is Pandora free?" Being accustomed to Apple iTunes, and other online music services, I was fully aware of the cost of listening to, and then purchasing, music from the Internet. It was a fortuitous day when, in the summer of 2005, a little blurb on a news article I was reading caught my eye, saying something like, "Try Pandora for Free."

The most interesting phrase which immediately captured my curiosity was "The Music Genome Project." Having a science education background, I was extremely interested in the Human Genome Project. Suddenly, here was a new music analysis project, but how would it benefit the individual coming to the Pandora website? Most enthralling was the fact that Music Genome Project had been first conceived by Will Glaser and Tim Westergren way back in 1999. One year later, they teamed up with Jon Kraft, and the three of them formed Pandora Media. Nonetheless, it took an additional 5 years to bring Pandora Radio to fruition, and to finally launch it on the Internet.



Those who have studied Greek Mythology recognize the name Pandora. According to the myth, she was the first woman; each god helped create her by giving her unique gifts. Pandora was given the gift of music by Apollo; hence the name Pandora, which is most appropriate for the premier music sight online today.

One can enjoy the music which Pandora provides for free; however, be aware that there are certain advertisements which will interrupt the stream of music from time to time. My best advise to anyone considering having Pandora.com as their primary source of music is to pay the annual fee of $36. That's a mere 10 cents a day to enjoy whatever music genre or artist you relish.

The next step with Pandora took was in the summer of 2008, at which time they launched their mobile software for various phones and iPods, both Apple based and Android based. In the summer of 2011, Pandora launched their IPO on the New York Stock Exchange with ticker symbol "P." To this day, Pandora's mission has been "to help you connect with the music YOU love."

And how does this music "connection" work? You simply begin thinking of a "radio station" you would like to create. Perhaps you love the Beatles, or Muse, or Adele; perhaps you love Classical Guitar or Hard Rock or Cello. Whatever your heart, and ears, desire, Pandora most likely has it in their database. The "secret" to creating your personal station is to use the Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down buttons diligently for the first day or two, and to occasionally repeat this over time. Remember, you will not always get the music you have specifically asked for; this is a licensing issue with the music companies. You will, however, find that the stations which you have created will not only be very close to what you have requested, but you will be introduced to many new artists, songs, and song writers.

To answer the question, Is Pandora Free?, the answer is definitely YES! However, it is advisable to purchase the annual membership for the preeminent music experience.