Our old pal Tim Westergren of Pandora is in town today chatting up fans of his online music service.
The big get together is tonight at The Lakewood Theater.
Things have changed a lot since we last saw Tim. He's fighting a mighty battle to save his company as the matter of royalty compensation for online streaming is coming to a head. On the plus side, Pandora released a wicked-good iPhone app that's caused many (including me) to make the switch from other services like Last.fm.
Should be a good and interesting time -- and Tim's a heckuva good guy. I'll drop by if schedule allows. Here's Tim's description of the evening's festivities:
"This get-together is a free event, open to everyone. It's a chance for me to share our story with you and hear what you have to say. I'll tell you about the Music Genome Project's beginnings, living through the dot-com collapse and what this last whirlwind year has been like. Most of all I'd like to get your ideas and thoughts about the service and where you think music is headed. I'll also have some nice Pandora gear for everyone!"
RSVP to tour@pandora.com.
Comments
Scott Doyle Verified
I have a work happy hour I've already committed to, but I might head over after that.
Arcade Bar hopefully still has that 1/2 price happy hour so I can grab a beer on my way in. =p FYI, it adjoins the theater (and apparently is run by them, too).
3 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Mike Orren Staff
You are correct, sir. It is a fine place and moderately dog-friendly.
3 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Brian Shields Verified
I love Pandora although sometimes I find myself a little skeptical about the attributes they assign to each song and artist. In fact, along with Yahoo Launchcast (which they aren't killing yet) I think Pandora is among the best web music sites out there.
I feel for Westergren who is fighting this crazy battle over royalties for online radio stations. It's so frustrating to see the RIAA sue 12 year olds for downloading and then turn around and charge huge fees to Internet broadcasters at the same time as traditional radio stations play all of the top label songs for free.
When Napster broke, I was hopeful that we were on the road to a new paradigm for compensating musicians outside the label system that screws all but the biggest artists. Then Lars Ulrich became the spokesmodel for Corporate Greed and the bosses were focused on propping up the old model instead of looking for new ways to bring more music to more people in ways that respect and reward the hard work of the artists.
All I can say is thank goodness for MySpace which daily exposes me to great new music from small bands in places like Cedar Rapids and Flint and enables me to pay them for their work. The long tail indeed.
3 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
David Gouldin Staff
I'll also vouch for Tim being a good guy. I shared some pizza with him a few years back at what was then a great Denton spot in a historic 1920s building and is now an empty dirt plot where a drive through CVS isn't.
He was genuinely interested in hearing what we as creators and consumers of music thought and felt about what was and what could be. I'd recommend anybody who is interested in the future of music, whether it be curiosity or passion.
3 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Mike Orren Staff
A recap of the proceedings:
http://www.texasstartupblog.com/2008/...
3 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
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