Introducing Musicology

Music is, at its core, a human experience. Everyone has their own unique relationship with it — their own story behind the music they love and the music they want to discover. But while music is a human experience, we live in the age of technology where music is organized into feeds, streamed, and “liked.” And intelligent data, combined with the human touch, can predict the next song you’ll love.

Musicology will explore the ways in which humans and technology shape how we discover music.

We’ll talk to DJs, producers, musicians and writers — the people who drive the creation, curation, analysis and discovery of music. People who know the difference between a sackbut and an oud; who know every lyric to “Insane in the Brain” and the story behind The Band and Bob Dylan’s The Basement Tapes; people who are driven by their passion to help others uncover great music.

There’s also theory, algorithms and data that go into delivering music to the world in a way that still feels personal. We’ll explore the attributes behind the Music Genome Project (will your love for songs with high danceability lead you to discover more?), discuss how genres are evolving and giving rise to subgenres you’ve yet to learn about (yes, there is Contemporary Christian EDM) and investigate how different types of music blend with and inform other genres (did you know some metal music has strong roots in classical music?).

This is a place to explore the humans and technology behind music discovery — from the minds of many, curated by Pandora.

P.S. — Here’s a sneak peek at what’s coming next: