jeremy tessmer | curator & designer

Yesterday, I happened into a kitchen where the radio was playing “The Dog Days are Over” by Florence and the Machine.  I mentioned that I seemed to hear that song everywhere.  The cook agreed, noting, “Especially on Pandora.  It plays like four or five times a day on Pandora.”  Indeed.

I, myself, heard the song for the first time on Pandora, which is how I hear most music produced after 2002.  I don’t listen to the radio, or watch MTV, or follow any of the music blogs.  I exist in a cozy little cocoon of carefully selected music (classical, jazz, blues, bluegrass, hip hop, and various electronic forms both common and esoteric).  My own playlists form one half of the cocoon and Pandora the other half.  Every once in a while, YouTube manages to slip through my little chrysalis, but mostly I remain blissfully unaware of new music.

To correct for my growing curmudgeonliness, I created stations for the Yeah-Yeah-Yeahs and Phantogram.  Both stations play “The Dog Days are Over” about four or five times a day.  Thus, the “curatorial” role that Pandora plays in my life has been compromised by “payola” - an old radio model where music publishers pay broadcasters to “push” a certain song.

This is an ongoing issue, isn’t it?  We’re searching for good curation, but commerce pays for those people and services that provide it.  Whether it’s Google or a gallery, there is some financial imperative to “push the fish.”  As a gallerist, I will always give people the truth if they ask.  Pandora, on the other hand, feels otherwise.  I guess the dog days are over, whatever that means.