Welcome to Wild Card Wednesday! Today is all about music. I’m going to share a way to get a FREE stream of music tailored to your personal tastes.
Though this post was inspired by writers, this is information anybody can use.
Background Music
Every once in a while, I see a call for help from a writer who wants to know what other writers listen to while they write.
Some people make interesting suggestions, introducing me to performers I’ve never heard of before.
But another group—which includes me—says the words in songs distract them. In that group, there are two camps.
One camp can only write in complete silence.
The second group splits into two factions:
- One listens to music sung in a language in which they are not fluent.
- The other listens to instrumentals.
I’m a member of the camp who listens to instrumentals while they write. I started this practice after reading an interview with Charlaine Harris. Queen Charlaine said she listens to movie soundtracks while she writes. Not the kind with popular songs, but the ones I’d call a movie “theme.”
[And when I call Charlaine the queen, I mean that in the kindest way possible. She inspired me to write what I write and to have the courage to keep going.]
Enter Pandora
My first reaction to Queen Charlaine’s movie soundtracks was that I didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on instrumental movie soundtracks, but then I discovered Pandora. And that’s what I want to tell you about today.
Click here to check out Pandora. Link will open in a new window.
I’m going to tell y’all how to use Pandora to create a music stream tailored to your tastes. Before I start, please note that if you’re looking for a music stream of your favorite songs, your best bet is an iTunes account, a credit card, and your iPod.
(Or maybe Spotify, but that’s a post for another day)
How-To
Create a Pandora account – The easiest way to do this is within your web browser. It doesn’t cost any money, and you don’t have to give them a credit card. Go on and do it. I’ll wait.
Create a music channel – I wanted an instrumental channel that didn’t necessarily play classical music. I decided on a channel of slow, meandering jazz for when I’m thinking hard. One of my favorite thinking songs is “Blue in Green” by Miles Davis. So that’s what I typed into the new station blank.
Refine Your Station
Not all jazz songs sound like “Blue in Green.” I needed to figure out what I liked about that song. Two things: No lyrics and slow tempo.
The worst part about Pandora: there’s no box to check for all instrumentals.
The best part of Pandora: it’s teachable.
There are two ways to teach Pandora what you want to hear.
The Like/Dislike button
This works either on your web browser or your device. It’s pretty self explanatory. When a song comes on that you like, click the thumbs up. When you dislike a song, click thumbs down.
It’s hard to tell you where to find the like/dislike button because it’s in different places on different applications. If using your web browser, mouse over the album cover to get the thumbs. On the iPhone application, it’s in bar at the bottom of the screen. On Roku, it’s to the right of the album cover.
I mentioned that there is no “all instrumentals” box. I once read this is because of the type of licensing Pandora holds. If you want an all instrumental station (like I did) you have to dislike all songs with vocals, even if you actually like the song. When you dislike a song, Pandora will skip to something else.
[Warning: You only 6 skips per hour per station. You can still dislike, and Pandora will record that you disliked the song.]
Seeds
This option works best from your web browser. You have to have a little musical knowledge use it. It’s the best way to refine a Pandora station, though.
Look for the name of the station you want to tweak underneath the word “shuffle.”
Since we’re talking about my Cool Jazz channel, that’s the one we’ll look underneath. Look for the words “add variety.” Can’t see them because they’re too little? Here’s a blow up:
Now see where it says add variety? Click that and get a popup window.
I wanted my Cool Jazz station to be based on “Blue in Green” by Miles Davis. But I added “Goodbye Porkpie Hat” — both the Jeff Beck and the Charles Mingus versions for variety. I also added “Lucy and Lionel” by Vince Guaraldi, “Stardust” by Dave Bruebeck, and “Misty” by Errol Garner.
The more information you can give Pandora, the better listening experience it can give you. My caveat is to pick a certain style of music. You can’t be all over the place and expect to get a steady stream of acceptable music.
I have a bluegrass station, a rock instrumentals station, a film scores station–a station for every mood.
Experiment
Use this method to create a personalized Pandora station of just about any style of music that tickles your fancy. Some ideas work. Some don’t.
I tried–and failed–at creating an all instrumental Ry Cooder station. The instrumental part was the problem. Pandora kept wanting to give me songs with vocals.
I was pretty successful at creating a music station based on the rock instrumental “Hip Hug Her” by Booker T. and the MGs. I added variety with “Cissy Strut” by the Meters, “Rumble” by Link Wray, and “Green Onions” also by Booker T. and the MGs.
Let’s say you loved the Road to Perdition Soundtrack–which is beautiful. Type that into the search thingie on the left and get started refining your station.
Remember, every song Pandora chooses won’t be a favorite. And you’ll have to like some songs you don’t love to keep Pandora playing X style of music. But if you take the time to teach Pandora, it can be a great way to listen to hours and hours of FREE music.
What do you listen to while you work? Or do you need complete silence?
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sandylrowland said:
Fun post! Music is powerful. You can use it to motivate or drown out unwanted noise.This could be a useful tool when I just can’t seem to get in the right place for a scene. Thanks!
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Catie Rhodes said:
You’re welcome! Pandora takes a little work, but I love it because I don’t have to physically choose all the songs. For blocking out noise, I use Pure White Noise. If you’re interested do a google search on them. Their product is pricey, but it’s good.
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emmaburcart said:
That is a good idea! I have been making a specific playlist for each novel that I write. But, for non-fiction and short stories I’ve been trying different instrumentals or French music. Neither have really clicked for me. Think I’ll check out Pandora for that. For my novel, I’ll stick with my playlist.
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Catie Rhodes said:
Good luck with Pandora. If you decide any of my stations sounded interesting, there is an option for me to share a station with you. I’d be happy to do it.
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mznetta said:
I love Pandora and have for a couple of years, but I’m one of those who writes in silence. For editing, it really depends on the piece. Love, love Ry Cooder and I have one CD which is especially soothing and inspiring. What’s great about Pandora is you can tailor it to exactly what you like with just a bit of patience.
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Catie Rhodes said:
Hey lady! As you said, Pandora does take patience. Usually, it’s worth it. There’s a CD of Ry Cooder’s music that only has instrumentals. I wish I had seen that before I invested in a bunch of his instrumental singles on iTunes for .99 each. Thanks for stopping by!
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Louise Behiel said:
well bummer – not available outside of the US. too bad. looked like a great idea.
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Catie Rhodes said:
Oh, bummer!! I didn’t realize that at all. Now you’ve got me on a mission to see what is comparable in Canada. Spotify might be. I have not had great luck with their “create a station” function yet. But I think it’s just a matter of patience.
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Marcy Kennedy said:
I had the same reaction as Louise. I’m bummed it’s not available in Canada. I’ll have to look for an alternative.
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Catie Rhodes said:
Like I told Louise, you might look into Spotify. I’ve not had as good of luck with their create a station function, but you might.
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Lisa Hall-Wilson said:
Have you tried Songza?
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Elena Aitken said:
Great post. I’ve long wished we had this in Canada.
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Catie Rhodes said:
I am really sorry this is unavailable in Canada. I should have researched it more carefully. I’ve left my Canadian friends out in the cold.
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susielindau said:
Very cool idea! I love listening to movies soundtracks on Sirius, but can’t find a similar station inside the house. I will check it out! Thanks!
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Catie Rhodes said:
Find some movie soundtracks that you like and try using one of them as a station starter. Then add the others you like as seeds for the station. You ought to have something you really like with very little effort.
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susielindau said:
Thanks! I’ll try that!
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Patricia Yager Delagrange said:
Though I don’t listen to music when I write I have the Pandora app on my iPhone and it’s wonderful.
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Catie Rhodes said:
I started using Pandora on my iPhone and quickly discovered how much fun it was to use on my computer and on my Roku.
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twbrown said:
Love Pandora, but then I found Spotify…and I have been hooked ever since.
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Catie Rhodes said:
I like Spotify. I haven’t liked their create a station as well as I liked Pandora’s. But I have gotten a real kick out of listening to music I don’t own.
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Lisa Hall-Wilson said:
Well – I’m in Canada too, but I have to say this sounded pretty time intensive. I’m not a fan of stumbleupon for the same reason. Great post though. Have been thinking of spotify but haven’t had time to play with it yet – having fun with Songza – it’s attached to my FB account. Let’s me choose between songs with lyrics, and songs without. Haven’t explored too much but it looks interesting.
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Catie Rhodes said:
I will look up Songza and see what I think. Pandora is time intensive. But it’s better than spending $$$ to create the kind of music collection I’d need to do this with iTunes.
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gingercalem said:
I love Pandora. But I forget to use it. Thanks for the reminder. I haven’t played too much with ‘teaching’ it so that will be a fun experiment.
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Catie Rhodes said:
It is a fun experiment. I love seeing what I can get Pandora to “understand” about my likes and dislikes. Sometimes it’s pretty intuitive. Other times, I shut it off in frustration.
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Rich- said:
Music while I write? I have a hard enough time maintaining a solid thought with all the background noise already in my head! LOL. A.D.D. Much? If I played music I’d probably look back over the day’s work and find lyrics to the songs I heard somewhere between the introduction and conclusion.
My lovely wife really digs Pandora, but todays ‘pop’ music does little for me and the oldies stations seem to only play Hotel California, Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird over and over. I listened to a ‘disco oldies’ station for a little while last week. I came to the conclusion that Disco is dead for a good reason. In fact if I hear “I will Survive”-Gloria Gaynor or “Funky Town”-Lipps Inc, one more time I’m gonna put on my platform shoes, drive to Deny Tarrio’s house and choke him with a big gold chain! No, I think I’ll continue to write in silence, it’s safer for everyone..lol..
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Catie Rhodes said:
I guess disco is dead for a reason. But it’s fun to dance to it once every 10 years. I still jam to the Bee Gee’s “Stayin’ Alive.” I don’t do this every day, but I do it at least 2x a year.
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David N. Walker said:
Silence, please. My ancient brain can’t handle two things at once.
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Catie Rhodes said:
Sometimes I’m exactly the same way.
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Sheila Seabrook said:
I’m a total silence girl, Catie. I even get distracted when I hear just beautiful instrumentals. My mind immediately focuses on the music and I forget about everything else. But I still love your suggestion on Pandora. I’m saving your post so I can check it out when I have time. Thanks for sharing!
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Catie Rhodes said:
Glad you enjoyed the post. We live in a noisy neighborhood. Sometimes the music drives me less crazy that the noise of people living.
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Julie Glover said:
I’ve heard people talk about Pandora, but I’ve never really used it. I can’t handle any lyrics either because my attention is drawn to those words instead of what I’m writing. But I plugged in one of my instrumental favorites to get started. Thanks!
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Catie Rhodes said:
Let me know if you get addicted to interacting with Pandora. I have.
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August McLaughlin said:
I love Pandora! I use the app on my phone, plugged into stereo speakers. Music really helps me shift gears from work-mode to chill.
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Catie Rhodes said:
Music is a mood enhancer for me, too. I figured out a way to make iTunes Match play over my TV. I love listening to it when me and Cosmo are playing in the evenings.
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Kitt Crescendo said:
I enjoy Pandora, too. Lately, though, I’ve really been getting a kick out of Songza. Not sure if it’s available on every tablet or smartphone, but know it’s free on apple. This one can get you the right songs based on mood, activity and/or genre. It’s been a blast.
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Catie Rhodes said:
Okay. I’m checking out Songza. I have apple everything, so surely I can manage to get the app downloaded. Of course, you never know with me.
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Kitt Crescendo said:
You’ll have fun with it. I spent the afternoon cleaning the house and listening to their Girls Just Wanna Have Fun station. Had everything from Gaga to Sir Mix-A-Lot to Madonna. When I’m on the treadmill I like their Headbands & Legwarmers 80′s station…LOL! Let me know what you think.
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sheridegrom - From the literary and legislative trenches. said:
I love, love music. Pretty much all kinds of music and yes, I normally listen to music when I write. The years I worked for the government and had to write case files after an investigation, my team would tease me all the time. I’d find a particular CD I liked and put it on repeat play and listen to it all day long. It drove them crazy and I think it probably became white noise for me. The bonus – I was the boss and could listen to what I wanted and the 2nd bonus – my staff didn’t come to my office as often and I could really get my work done without being bothered. I think because I became used to writing case notes to music, it transferred over to listening to music while writing. Thanks for this wonderful post. I normally listen to my playlist but have a bad habit of putting too many songs on one list.
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Stacy Green said:
Sorry I’m late to this. Thanks for this tutorial. I only knew the basics of Pandora, so this helps. I need to try listening to more instrumentals. I get caught up in picking the right channel, lol.
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Ellis Shuman said:
I used to listen to a stream of favorites from Pandora, but then they restricted it to listeners in the U.S. I live in Israel and no longer can listen to the music! (This way, that is)
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Catie Rhodes said:
Have you tried Songza or Spotify?
You can actually make playlists of the songs you like on Spotify OR have them create a “station” based on a song or artist. On the Spotify stations, you cannot offer seeds like you can on Pandora, but you can like or dislike songs to teach Spotify what you like.
Songza is really more about themes and music styles. You don’t create stations from songs or artists. Instead, you pick from a bunch of pre-made stations. But you can still do the like/dislike thing to teach it what you like.