Recently a friend described Pandora Radio's classification ontology as just wrong, but with no explanation. Needing something a little more concrete than "just wrong", I've started more actively looking at the tags that have been applied to some of the tunes that get put in front of me, both good and bad. Based on just a little of this, I must conclude that Nathan has a point. Today, Pandora selected a John Zorn piece based on a stated series of about twelve tags, not one of which could not also be applied to drippy lounge jazz, three-chord folk, or pretty much anything from the Classical period.
If they can't even figure out what makes John Zorn unique, then maybe several months of my whac-a-moling piano trios, Kenny G knockoffs and folk'n'blues singers really doesn't teach them anything. (Okay, I admit I'm demanding when it comes to stylists. But seriously, has it not yet occurred to the "intelligence engine" that I have reliably whacked EVERY SINGLE vocal tune that has come across my screen, usually within five seconds of hearing the singer's voice? No, I've got nothing against singing, but see, I'd like this to be an instrumental station. That would seem to be a rather fundamental sort of tag, don'tcha think? But no, and it's invariably with the blues and folk singers. Guys, I don't need Pandora radio to get my fill of that, ya dig?)
That said, it seems to come in spurts. It will stick on the "percussive acoustic guitar" theme for a little while, then a Davy Graham tune will go by and suddenly the folkies and bluesmen show up. Whac, whac, whac, this is not a blues station, people! Then it kicks loose and goes to a Dan Crary, maybe the flamenco/Spanish guitarists for a while, then Avishai Cohen or John Zorn show up, and then it's on with the piano trios and the sheer noisemakers who thought they had John Coltrane or Ornette Coleman totally figured out. Whac, whac, whac.
Sigh. Mostly it's just a minor irritation, from someone who always seems to be firmly ademographic. In the end I'm still mostly happy with Pandora. Thus far I like the interface a LOT better than last.fm, and I'll always be indebted to Pandora for awakening me to what Michael Hedges first suggested to my unsuspecting mind.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment