MSN Radio Now Powered by Pandora

Without much fuss or hype, Microsoft quietly launched a version of MSN Radio which is powered by Pandora. This is an attempted effort by Microsft to keep up in the highly competitive online streaming music business.

This new deal could potentially introduce millions of new users to Pandora, giving MSN a better shot at taking on their rivals and taking over as the #1 online streaming radio. Currently Clear Channel ranks #1, and Yahoo Launchcast ranks #2.

Pandora, for those who are not aware, is a streaming music service that offers up "like for like" music recommendations. For example, you can type in a particular artist or song that you like, and based upon research from the on-going "Music Genome Project", Pandora will serve you up with others songs by the artist, as well as other artists who they believe you will have a very good chance of liking as well. It's a great new way to discover new music.

MSN customers, on average, are not that techie and may be less likely to seek out new technologies on their own. But bringing the new technology to them, may make them more likely to pick up on it and utilize the new service.