Testing challenge @ pandora radio
Submitted by Erik Petersen on Sun, 18/02/2007 - 04:10.
acceptance testing | context-driven testing | exploratory testing | functional testing | perspectives | this.site
I listen to Pandora (www.pandora.com) every now and then, and it is a great site. It offers a custom audio stream, based on your preferences. You choose an artist or song, and music by them and in a similar vein will be played. They have paid staff who do the classifications of all the tracks, and relevant classification from your choices guide the track selection. You can also fast track it by giving a thumbs up or down to a track. When you are listening to a track, you can view a selection of its classifications.
It's an interesting application to test, due to its complexity. Some of the choices seem very random, then you realize that there may be one overlapping classification between the random track and one you have heard. It is amazingly accurate in matching the musical styles.
Try thinking of the most bizarre track or artist you can think of and have a play with Pandora. You will have fun, and hear some interesting music at the same time.....
I tried "Buggles" for example, a strange group from the 1980s known for "Video killed the Radio Star", whose members included Hans Zimmer the famous film composer and Trevor Horn the famous music producer. The tracks that followed the Buggles track were extremely similar in flavour.
Here's another article about Pandora...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102700295.html
Enjoy.....
It's an interesting application to test, due to its complexity. Some of the choices seem very random, then you realize that there may be one overlapping classification between the random track and one you have heard. It is amazingly accurate in matching the musical styles.
Try thinking of the most bizarre track or artist you can think of and have a play with Pandora. You will have fun, and hear some interesting music at the same time.....
I tried "Buggles" for example, a strange group from the 1980s known for "Video killed the Radio Star", whose members included Hans Zimmer the famous film composer and Trevor Horn the famous music producer. The tracks that followed the Buggles track were extremely similar in flavour.
Here's another article about Pandora...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102700295.html
Enjoy.....