Pandora is the online music service founded in 2000 that uses the Pandora brand.
The company began as Savage Beast Technologies and was founded by Tim Westergren, Jon Craft, and Will Glaser. It developed from the Music Genome Project, an effort to describe songs through many musical characteristics and use those descriptions to generate personalized radio stations.
Pandora launched its public music service in 2005. Unlike a traditional on-demand music library in its early model, it centered on stations shaped by an artist, song, or genre. The service became especially known for personalized recommendations and an ad-supported listening option.
The brand name refers to Pandora from Greek mythology, although the company’s product is unrelated to the ancient story. Pandora Media later became part of Sirius XM after Sirius XM acquired the company in 2019. The service remains associated with internet radio and algorithmic music discovery.