The music site Pandora was one of the very first online music resources available on the internet. The technology behind the site is described here –
The Music Genome Project is an effort to “capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level” using over 450 attributes to describe songs and a complex mathematical algorithm to organize them. The Music Genome concept is currently made up of 5 sub-genomes: Pop/Rock, Hip-Hop/Electronica, Jazz, World Music, and Classical.
Yet Pandora remains one of the most innovative streaming service implementations of this technology with it’s unique Jukebox style interface. It’s a great way of discovering new music, as the AI selects music based on your listening preferences and builds up different radio stations for you. It’s an incredible music service which really does change the longer you listen to music. What’s more the basic subscription is absolutely free and offers access to a huge music database to rival the big players.
Unfortunately there’s only one drawback, it’s only available in the USA and if you want to access Pandora in Europe or anywhere else it will take some trickery. The good news is that it’s not too difficult and you can enjoy one of the best music resources on the web with relatively little difficulty. So just read on and join all of us who enjoy this online radio station from anywhere in the world.
How to Listen to Pandora in Europe
So the main issue is that when you connect to Pandora Radio it takes a look at your IP address. This is what happens if it sees an IP address that isn’t registered in the USA. This is from the United Kingdom, but you’ll get the same from New Zealand, Australia, Europe or indeed anywhere but the US!
Don’t believe the ‘coming soon’ message on the front screen, that’s been there for at least ten years. There have been apparently lots of discussions with the various copyright holders and record labels but nothing seems to ever happen. If you want access then you’ll have to switch your IP address.
Why You Need to Change Your IP Address
Pandora radio uses a process called geo targeting that’s becoming increasingly common. The process is designed to tailor specific content based on your location. However it’s more often used to block access rather than make something more accessible. Geo-targeting will block anyone trying to access Pandora from outside the United States. So if you visit Pandora from Europe, you’ll automatically get the ‘sorry message’ and won’t be able to access the site. Incidentally this will include anyone who’s created their account in the US but then tried to access from outside the country.
Geo-targeting works by looking up your IP address and seeing where it’s registered. If your address is not registered in the USA then Pandora simply won’t work. Fortunately although it’s quite difficult to change your IP address, you can hide it by using something called a Virtual Private Network or VPN service.
This video shows how it’s done, and as you can see it’s not difficult at all.
It’s called NordVPN and is a simple program to install on your computer, laptop, phone or tablet – in fact you can install on all these devices. The important fact is that you must connect to a server based in the US, this is essential as Pandora needs to see a US network address.
By connecting to a Nord VPN server in the USA, you’re effectively hiding your real location from Pandora. Any web site will just see the IP address of the VPN and therefore you’ll be able to access all US only resources. When you’re finished simply disconnect the VPN and your browsing will return to normal. It’s important to complete this step as you’ll find you won’t be able to access resources in your actual location if you don’t.
It’s a great little tool and one that really transforms your access to the internet. Don’t stop there though, of course you can now access Pandora in Europe but also loads more streaming services. There are many more completely free media sites all over the world which are normally restricted to a domestic market.
Open up the Web with a VPN
If you decide to invest in a VPN service, then you will find it opens up lots of possibilities. Of course, it will let anyone enjoy Pandora outside the United States but much more too. There are hundreds of US web sites which will also become accessible – try Hulu, NBC, HBO and even connect to the American version of Netflix instead of your local version.
It’s not just the US web sites which a VPN will allow access to. By choosing the right country you can unlock websites all over the world. Many US residents use VPNs to watch Canadian TV channels online, or there are some wonderful sites in the UK like the BBC and ITV which are completely free.
Most of the decent VPN services will not restrict you to specific countries, indeed almost all of them will have servers across the world including the United States. As long as you remember to select the right country before visiting the website then everything should be accessible. You will basically have the freedom of the internet, with the ability to switch IP addresses at will. So to enjoy the delights of BBC iPlayer from outside the United Kingdom just click on a British server before you visit the site. You won’t be alone, millions do this regularly all over the world.
There are a whole bunch of these VPN services and most are relatively inexpensive. The main issues you can get with some of these services is that they are overloaded with lots of users and can be therefore very slow. This won’t be a huge problem with audio streaming sites like Pandora but if you’re watching high definition video it can be extremely frustrating. Generally the very cheap VPN services are the worse as they keep the costs down by putting lots of users on each server.
The VPN service provider demonstrated above is a great option for Pandora and all other media sites – they’re called NordVPN. The service works on all major platforms and is very easy to install, plus they’re one of the cheaper options if you sign up for the one of the longer deals.
The deals change quite a lot, but if you click the above image you’ll be taken to their latest offers which is available now.