Opening Pandora's box.

Why broadcast radio stations must go local, Reason #5,323: a new streaming music Web site called Pandora.com, from something called the Music Genome Project. This is the slickest, smoothest Web jukebox site yet. You type in one (1) song or artist name, and hit enter, and the system starts streaming a custom radio station just for you--all sounds that share musical DNA with your selection. I wrote in "Diana Krall," and they played me a Krall cut, followed by another female jazz singer, singing a standard with a small-group, piano-based, jazz club sound. You can have up to a hundred personal radio stations in your free account. If you don't want to hear commercials and see ads with your music, you can pay the site $36 for a year without them. What's steel-tower radio going to be like two years from now? Something unique, and local, I hope.