Creating the (Almost) Perfect Internet Music System

The secret to a perfect world is having the right music playing at the right time. Thanks to the Internet, perfection is within reach.

Earlier this year, I purchased a device called a Squeezebox (which, of course, immediately appealed to me because of the play on words with the musical instrument with which I've shared five decades of my life). It's made by Logitech, best known for their mice and keyboards. You can purchase one of these devices through Amazon:



Squeezebox accesses Internet radio either directly through an Internet connection or by wireless connection to your PC or Mac. You can easily program your Squeezebox by using the Squeeze Network website. It gives you ready access to hundreds of over-the-air and Internet radio stations around the globe, as well as subscription online services like Last.fm, Rhapsody, and my particular favorite, Pandora.

Pandora is available for free (with ads) or by subscription (for $36 a year, ad-free). The service allows you to create an endless number of "radio channels" based on your preferences for particular artists and songs. Based on elaborate automated analysis of musical artists, songs and styles (they call it the Music Genome Project), and your own thumbs-up/thumbs-down ratings as you hear songs, Pandora learns your preferences (much as Amazon or TiVo) do and populates your channels with songs and artists that meet your preferences.

If your musical tastes are pretty straightforward (alt-rock, pop, jazz, hip-hop, punk, etc.), you can find a large number of pre-assembled stations or to quickly put together several of your own. If your tastes run a broader gamut, it can be more of a challenge. I had great success assembling a Leo Kottke Radio channel that brings together many of my favorite folk-oriented guitarists (Kottke, John Fahey, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Jorma Kaukonen, Doc Watson, Norman Blake, and on and on). Pulling together an Africa Radio station was tougher, as only about a third of the artists I searched for are currently available on Pandora. And certain classes of artists (e.g., the ruminative jazz from ECM Records) are thin because of limits on Pandora's ability to license music. In total, I've got nearly 100 radio channels on Pandora, from "Alternative One Radio" (Iron and Wine, Sufjan Stevens, Of Montreal) to "Jazz Ruminations Radio" (Keith Jarrett, Charlie Haden, Bill Evans, Brad Mehldau), from "Jazz Vocal Solos Radio" (Chet Baker, Jamie Cullum, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dorough) to "Sigur Ros Radio" (Sigur Ros, Slaraffenland, Efterklang).

But taken together, the Squeezebox plus Pandora is something close to sonic heaven.

Since I'm a Mac user, I do have one gripe -- while Squeezebox lets me access all the MP3 music in my iTunes directory (whether from discs or downloads), the Apple folks won't let Squeezebox users access their iTunes music downloads... another good reason not to buy from the iTunes Store.

Squeezebox is one a handful of good Internet radio alternatives on the market -- the Sonos system is particularly impressive - but if you already have a good whole-house audio system, or your coverage needs are simpler, the Squeezebox brings the world of Internet radio anywhere in your home at a great price.