Pandora Live Music DNA Analysis
In this demonstration by Pandora founder Tim Westergren and veteran Pandora music analyst Steve Hogan, witness a live track analysis as a song is added into the Music Genome Project. The Music Genome Project powers each listener’s personalized stations on Pandora. Since 2000, the Pandora team of professional musicians has been listening and discovering the DNA that describes each track’s instrumentation, vocals, beat, genre and more. Come watch how a human’s trained ears translate musical nuances into the ultimate personalized radio experience.
Presenters
Pandora Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Tim Westergren started the popular personalized radio service in 2000 with the Music Genome Project. Tim is an award-winning composer and accomplished musician with 20 years of experience in the music industry – spanning production, audio engineering, film scoring and live performance. Trained as a jazz pianist, his musical background spans such genres as rock, blues, jazz and classical music.
Tim received his B.A. from Stanford University, where he studied computer acoustics and recording technology. A musician's musician, he is dedicated to helping talented emerging artists find an audience. In addition to guiding Pandora's overall strategy and vision, Tim now spends most of his time as Pandora's chief evangelist - traveling the country to connect with some of the tens of millions of people who listen to Pandora. He also works extensively with technology partners, distribution partners, advertisers and investors to help shape the future of Pandora and personalized radio.
Pandora’s Music Operations Manager Steve Hogan leads the internet radio company’s Music Analysis operation. This includes a team of more than 25 professional musicians who listen to each track in the Pandora collection and contribute that track's "DNA" to the Music Genome Project, the most ambitious musical taxonomy ever created. The Music Genome Project provides a detailed description of each track's vocals, instrumentation, rhythm, harmony, melody and more, for each of the over 900,000 tracks in the company’s collection.
Steve has been with Pandora for over 11 years. A working musician himself, Steve has been performing as a pianist and organist in the San Francisco Bay Area for 16 years, including a gig as the San Francisco Giants’ ballpark organist for the past two seasons.
Wednesday, March 14
