What is the name of the recommendation system developed for Pandora internet radio?

The Music Genome Project is the recommendation system developed for Pandora internet radio.

The project analyzes recorded music through many musical attributes, including melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocal qualities, and arrangement. Human music analysts assign these characteristics, allowing Pandora to compare songs and generate stations with related musical profiles.

This approach differs from recommendations based only on users who liked similar tracks. Pandora’s system attempts to describe the music itself, then uses those descriptions to select songs that fit a station’s musical identity. A listener can start with an artist or song and receive a programmed sequence built from the project’s analysis.

The Music Genome Project was central to Pandora’s early identity and helped distinguish the service from ordinary random playback. Its name uses a biological metaphor: just as a genome represents inherited information, the project treats a song’s measurable musical traits as a kind of musical profile.