Tim Westergren wants to introduce you to great music. In early 2000, he founded The Music Genome Project. In 2005, Westergren introduced his mission to the Internet, beginning Pandora, Web radio that utilizes a listener's favorite bands or songs to find similar music based on the components of the song — melody, lyrics, instruments, etc. Westergren hails from the Bay area, is thorough in everything he does and recently embarked on a journey across the U.S. to find new music. Last weekend, he spent some time in Houston, so Houstonist decided to ask him about his experiences.
You recently traveled to Houston in search of great music. What were
your impressions?
I really enjoyed learning about Chopped & Screwed, which has become such a big deal there. I spent some time with a composer and producer named BigLove and a handful of his producers and rappers, where I got a history lesson. I actually saw him putting together some tracks and freestyle rapping. I got a pretty good look at that whole scene, which I found fascinating. They take existing music and remix it in interesting ways. A new economy has grown up around it. It becomes a grassroots distribution where these guys make a record, then distributors will resale them on the street at car washes and corner stores. They can sell a lot of CDs in a really short period of time. The best thing about it is that the money really goes to people making the music, which is not typical of the record industry. I spent a lot of time understanding that and picking up CDs in that vein.
I also went to Walters and saw a handful of bands — Satin Hooks and some local indie rock, which was some really good stuff. I spent an evening with a bunch of folks from Houston and got 50 recommendations of local bands that are really good.
You do a lot of traveling. What is your favorite city?
I really have enjoyed Texas a lot as a state. The people are really welcoming, hospitable and generous. I've liked all the cities I've been in; I really enjoyed Dallas a lot. One thing that really struck me about Texas is that it has such an incredible music history. Before this trip, I had a typical stereotype of Texas being largely about country music. But it is really the birthplace of a lot of Southern jazz and blues. It is unassuming, but really rich in musical history.
I don't know that I can pick a favorite. Austin and Dallas are two different animals. I went to Denton, a very small town, but it is where UNT is, so it has a concentration of some of the world's best musicians. I went to a show at a local club with two bands that were all students.
How would you describe Pandora?
The whole point of Pandora is really helping emerging independent artists get noticed. As I travel, I keep getting reminded of how much really good music is written everyday.
I would say that it is an online radio service meant to make it very easy for someone to create a radio station to play just the music they love.
Pandora allows users to type in their favorite band/artist into a "station" and then searches for similar music to add. What are a few of your stations?
Lately I've been enjoying stations built on Ben Folds' music. Oscar Peterson is a favorite of mine; I have a great Green Day station. I actually tend to create my stations using songs rather than artists. That is actually kind of the real basis of the service: It allows you to get a little more specific with what you want. I almost always launch stations with songs.
I like "Still Fighting It" by Ben Folds, "Tom and Mary" by Ben Folds. The starter songs for my stations: "Kid Charlemangne" by Steely Dan and "Helplessly Hoping" by CSNY (Crosby Stills Nash and Young).
We love Pandora. We understand it is your brainchild. Has it evolved at all since those initial plans?
It evolved a lot. Originally, I didn't intend for it to be a radio service. I worked on the Music Genome Project, which at that time actually provided licensed technology for folks who are selling music. We actually did deals with Best Buy, and the purpose was if you were buying a CD we would be able to recommend something similar you might like. That's what the company was about in its first four years. But we wanted to offer something directly to consumers ourselves; this idea was largely driven by the fact that broadband Internet had become so much more prevalent. I think about 60 or 70 million people use online radio now, so it is actually a medium perfect for what we do. Song analisis is great for playlist creation.
What 10 songs would you choose to make up the soundtrack to your life?
You can't ask a musician to answer that question quickly. I was a musician for 10 or 12 years after college. I played in rock bands for seven or eight before I became a film composer.
OK, the soundtrack to my life (I was born in 1965). This list could easily by 10 times as long:
10-12 years old:
"Ca Plane Pour Moi" by Plastique Bertrand
Early Teens:
"This Must Be Love" by Madness; "Grease" from the Soundtrack; "Is She Really Going Out with Him" by Joe Jackson; "There's a Rugged Road" by Judee Sill
Late Teens:
"Taking it All Too Hard" by Genesis; "Homeward Bound" by Simon & Garfunkel
Early 20s:
"Don't Always Look at the Rain" by Tears for Fears; "Ya Mo B There" by Michael MacDonald; "Fall on Me" by REM
20s:
"More Than One Way Home" by Keb Mo
30s:
"Brian Wilson" (Live) by the Barenaked Ladies; "Long December" by Counting Crows; "Tom & Mary" by Ben Folds Five
You spend a lot of time listening to music. What else do you do for fun?
I play the piano, I was trained as a jazz pianist, but I like rock music now. The movies I've liked lately: Hustle and Flow, Crash, Brokeback Mountain.
Where is the best place to get Mexican food?
I'm convinced the best place for Mexican is La Azteca in Redwood City.
What is next for the Music Genome Project?
There are a couple big thrusts for us. The first is to make Pandora mobile, which will allow you listen to it when you aren't sitting at your computer. We also want to make it available internationally and incorporate non-English speaking music in the service. We're actually working on that now. We're hoping to release latin music in the next three months.
We also want to make Pandora a more community-type service, like a My Pandora, where you can share music with other users. Our listeners are very interactive and they always email us suggestions and ideas so we can make Pandora better.
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