I've been using Pandora for about three years now. It works well for the rock radio stations I've programmed it for. I've found it to be a great way to discover new (and old) artists. For example, start a Beatles radio station and it plays groups with a Beatlesque sound such as Badfinger, etc. If a song/group comes on that you don't like, you tell it to never play that song again. If a song comes on that you really like, you tell it to play more songs like that. The radio station you're creating remembers all of your comments/tweaks and it gets closer and closer to "batting 1000" as far as playing mainly stuff you like. There are days when I discover several great new artists that I've never heard of and that's really it's strength. Pandora is designed to be a way to find new (and old) artists you'll like that you've never heard before and mix them in with stuff you already know. For example, my Beatles station plays some Beatles songs and mixes them in with tons of other great stuff--especially now that I've tweaked it with my responses of "never play this song again" and "play more songs like this one". I've got several different Pandora stations now and they all rock. I may listen to it for an hour or so on a typical day while I'm on my computer working/surfing and yes the sound quality isn't the best, but for me it's a means and not an end. In other words, it's a means for me to find bands that I like--once I discover them on pandora--I buy the vinyl or cd and then I've got killer sound quality over my altecs and a great variety of bands I've newly discovered instead of just listening to my same collection (which, no matter how big your collection is, there's nothing like discovering a great band/album/song etc. that you've never heard before IMHO).......