Jango: A Custom Web Radio Service

Internet radio is not a new invention by any means. According to the almighty and omniscient Wikipedia, it had its start somewhere around 1993, a year in which a man by the name of Carl Malamud established the first Internet radio ?station,? dubbed Internet Talk Radio, using MBONE (IP Multicast Backbone on the Internet) technology. In subsequent years, new outlets proceeded to sprout, with their numbers increasing substantially, to the point at which a viable industry was established. Today, thousands upon thousands of streams exist, offering a massive range of genres to listeners all across the globe. Even many big-name radio-tower-loving broadcasters have joined the fold.

And some services go so far as to produce, on-demand, custom radio-like programming. Pandora is a superb example. Another such custom Internet radio service, Jango, is to have its official debut come mid-November. (Want in on the action prior to launch? Hit this link. Note: First 100 get access.)

Now, I know what some of you might be thinking. Isn?t the Internet radio biz kind of in some rough water at the moment? Isn?t that Copyright Royalty Board over at the Library of Congress, along with SoundExchange, putting pressure on Internet broadcasters? (For now the madness has died down, but it?ll come ?round again.) So why is another online radio entity making the attempt to get off the ground now? Are they mad? I?m not sure, to be honest. But looking at what they?ve got to offer, I think they?ve got a shot at success ? if those proverbial winds everyone talks of flow their way.

Jango, like other custom radio startups on the Web, allows you to listen to what you want, when you want. (Generally speaking.) You choose for yourself a genre or sub-genre - or specific artist, if you wish - and the algorithm manning the digital jukebox at the backend gives you a stream of songs that you?re likely to want to hear. Type in a name like “David Gray”, for instance, and you?re bound to get songs that fit said artist?s profile ? whether they be Gray?s or melodically ?similar?.

And, of course, if you?re into the whole checking-out-what-others-enjoy-listening-to thing, you can do that, too.

Overall, however, Jango is a simple pony. Easily operable, easily navigable. And it?s not too bad to look at either. Quite reasonably polished for a beta. No terrible oddities to speak of.

So what do I think gives it a shot at success? Well, you might think I?m nuts for considering this feature a great, great bonus, but it?s something which makes Jango a genuine pleasure to use. ?It? is the capability of the service to continue streaming along the tunes as you browse the site.

Yes, I know, that?s certainly a no-brainer if there ever was one, I agree wholeheartedly. But unless I?m mistaken, not many other such venues provide you with uninterrupted tunes (by the bye, unlimited and totally free tunes, to boot) whilst you look for other artists that you might be interested in. What is usually the case is that you?re left with the choice of letting things play as they may - with perhaps an option only to vote up or down individual track (which Jango lets you do, FYI) - and if you choose to venture elsewhere, the audio stops. Not cool. Not cool at all.

Here?s the gist of it. If it were up me, I?d see to it that Jango grew to become a strong member of the Internet radio world. The industry might be going through a bit of trouble at present, but hey, here?s to hoping things work out for a good while longer, eh?

As far as prelim stats go, the site itself ain?t doing so bad at the moment. Beta testers number in the 300,000-plus, and the total number of ?custom stations? they?ve all created is at 600k, and counting. And it?s hedging on a bet of strong growth in the realm of Internet widgets (think MySpace embeds, etc.). Bound to have some luck in that area, for sure.

Alright, no more talk. Want to join Jango prior to its November 12th release? Click this link. Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to profy RSS feed!