Pandora Does Comedy

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We all know and love Pandora. I can't tell you how many hours I've spent on one of my favorite stations wishing I could give the programmer a big hug simply because they seem to know me so well. I choose an artist, press play and let Pandora takes care of the rest. If I had an iPod with all of my favorite songs divided by genre I wouldn't come up with a playlist even remotely close to what they are offering-AND for free (at least when you remain under the monthly limit)-who could ask for anything more?

Apparently we can because it seems like now, the people have spoken and Pandora has listened with its new comedy genre. Just like with Pandora's music offerings, you can search for preferred comedians or genres of comedy to create a channel and Pandora will use a sophisticated algorithm to provide you with your request and so much more.

Tentatively called the Comedy Genome Project, this venture contains 10,000 clips spanning 12 genres. This includes Raw Comedy, Political Comedy, Today's Comedy and Comedy Icons. There are currently 700 comedians in Pandora's rolodex to choose from. Some of the featured artists include ...
... Eddie Murphy, Joan Rivers, Chris Rock, George Carlin, Chris Rock, Richard Prior, David Cross, Mitch Hedberg and more.

In a blog posted by Pandora today, CEO and founder Tim Westergren stated Adding comedians to the mix has been one of the top requests from our listeners. It's been a very fun experience, taking what we've learned in music and applying it to a whole new category. Now, instead of talking about ‘minor keys,' ‘falsetto,' and ‘extensive vamping,' our comedy-analysts capture ‘odd juxtaposition' (A horse walks into a bar), ‘misdirection' and ‘spoonerisms' (a well-boiled icicle, instead of a well-oiled bicycle).

Imagine that—you're sitting at work in your quiet office, a Richard Prior clip comes up and you just burst into an uncontrollable laughter, ahhgood times. This seems like a great idea at first, but then you realize that you have been actively listening to comedians for the past 3 hours and no work has gotten done. Talk about a red flag.

I am all for comedy on Pandora. I feel like it's a genius idea. I just can't help but wonder: for the everyday worker that enjoys their favorite music playing in the background to help get them through their day, is this a good idea? As a lunch escape, maybe, but to have as a regular, all-day station, I think not. I guess this is a use at your own risk kind of thing. I know for myself, I could never. It's distracting enough at work when one of my favorite songs comes on my Pandora station. Throw Eddie Murphy in the mix and I spend the greater part of the afternoon quoting obscenities from Raw.

I give Pandora a great, big thumbs up for the new venture while simultaneously giving myself a huge yellow sign cautioning me to stay very far away.