I have recently become a fan of Pandora Radio. This is a great FREE website where you can create your own personalized radio stations. (You will hear periodic short commercials that are only five or ten seconds in length.) Let’s say you really like the Eagles or a particular song, like “Take it Easy.” You type in the name of a band or a song you really like, and Pandora Radio will play songs by other bands that are similar in style as well as the original song or band that you entered.
To better tailor your personalized radio station, you can check whether you like or dislike each song. (You can only reject a limited number of songs each hour, so I just give no feedback for songs that I don’t like but don’t really bother me, either.) As Pandora Radio builds a profile of what you like and what you don’t, you can wind up listening to a personalized radio station for hours and like everything you hear. How cool is that??
No, I am not being paid to promote this website. I am just sharing this because I have found this site to be a wonderful healing tool for me. When I listen to the radio or pop in a CD, I tend to listen to music that might sway my emotions. One song might fuel anger or sadness toward a particular relationship. I might become triggered by a lyric (such as the reference to “good girls” in Tom Petty’s song, “Free-falling.”
There are a handful of Christian songs that I really like and a ton I don’t, so I quickly lose my patience with Christian radio stations. I typed in the title of one song that I like, and now I have this fabulous radio station that plays nothing triggering to me! I have discovered lots of new songs that I like that are also “safe” for me to listen to.
I don’t feel the need to think about G*d all the time. Instead, what I need is background music that does not trigger me or sway my emotions. (In addition to blogging, I work as an online college instructor, so I am on the computer for hours every day.) Thanks to this website, I now have a way to listen to lots of songs that I like and that don’t mess with my head.
For those of you who are not religious, I also built a great radio station with Jim Brickman music as my starting point. (You can build multiple radio stations for free to match your mood.) That plays lots of piano and New Age music, which does not trigger me and helps me to stay calm (well, as calm as I get! LOL).
One day, I had enough of the mellow music and typed in Evanescence for kicks. I had no idea what could be similar to Evanescence. I found another band that I had never heard of that has a similar flavor. It also played lots of Linkin Park, Nickelback, and other bands that matched my mood. It really is a cool site, both for healing and just for fun. :0)
Photo credit: Lynda Bernhardt
Thanks Faith!
Yesterday I was feeling very little and very afraid, I spent a very long time trying to figure out what my kids had taught me about making a playlist on my ipod. It was wonderful to lay there with just music that would soothe me.
I will definitely try this!
Have you tried Musicals? This kind of music can lift me out of that place…
♥
Wonderful advice! I love music for the same reason but I didn’t know about this radio station. I will try it this weekend – thanks for the heads up!
When we’re in an ‘Evanescence’ sort of mood, we usually end up listening to Within Tempation, Nightwish, and Litera Theta as well. They are all similar in sound and ‘flavor’ and go quite well together.
Our fiance gets a kick out of our playlists as they range from Hannah Montana (for the younger ones) to Nightwish to Metallica to old Michael W. Smith songs. Whatever suits our moods.
Railee,
Yes! Within Temptation is the name of the other band. I had never heard of them until using Pandora. I really like them — very similar flavor. :0)
- Faith
If you like Within Temptation and Evanescence, give Nightwish a try. They are very much like Within Temptation and have quite the variety of songs in that genre! We’ve got many a favorite in the trio of bands! Litera Theta also has some good ones, but they’re harder to find, sadly. :s
We like Pandora, too. It is a wonderful way to get to know other groups/soongs that you may like. I get tired, sometimes, of listening to the same stuff, and this exposes me to stuff I might not be aware of otherwise. You and I both have kids, so I’m sure it’s the same for you, but I don’t get much radio time to hear new music, and besides the regular radio plays the same stuff over and over anyway.
I LOVE Evanescence, by the way. Their lyrics speak to me so much. It can be some really dark music, but it touches me and speaks words that are in my heart.
~Secret Shadows
I just found out today that Pandora is free for 40 hours each month. After that, you have to pay 99 cents to continue using it for the rest of the month. Alternatively, you can pay a nominal annual fee for unlimited use, and that comes with some perks as well. I just upgraded because I am using it more than 40 hours a month. :0)
- Faith
Thanks Faith. I am also a big Pandora fan and even bought the membership to avoid the ads and get it on my desktop.
I’ll be writing about music on my blog soon. But, yes, totally agree with you on its healing properties. Music is a universal language. It’s all about emotion and can help us connect inside.
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