Pandora = Effortless Party Music

Okay, folks.  We've been taking it for granted that everyone knew about Pandora.com.  Only recently did we discover that Pandora is a well-kept secret.  Well, we have to share.  Especially because those of you who struggle to find a suitable party mix when entertaining will be especially thrilled by this knowledge.  Pandora is a free site where you can custom-tailor "radio stations" to your likes.   Here's how it works:

Go to the site and create a login and password.  (Once you do this, Pandora will save all your "stations.")  Next, create a station.  Do this by typing in the name of your favorite artist or song.  Based on this info, Pandora will create a radio station for you with that artist and other artists who fit that genre.  You can also "add variety" to your station by adding more artists to this mix.  If Pandora ever plays a song you don't like, you just click on the little "thumbs down" icon and that song will never be played again.  This is GENIUS for creating a "radio station" (without commercials!) for parties.  Kari shared this info with one of her teacher friends who likes to play music in the classroom while students are working on projects.  That teacher is ecstatic, because now she has several "radio stations" to pick from that are suitable for use in the classroom.  You can make as many different "stations" as you want, similar to your ipod playlists, but you don't have to do the work AND it's an opportunity to learn about new artists within the genre of music you love.  Try it---you'll like it!

We really, really, really cannot stress how nice this site is for making playlists for entertaining.  Because it's not an ipod playlist, the music won't ever run out, so you will not have to worry about music for the duration of your party.  We love Pandora.  We think you will, too!