Check out Soundtracker, like Pandora for Italian music


As someone who has a hard time remembering what it was like to listen to music before you could hit “shuffle” or curate a digital playlist, I’m a big fan of automated music recommendation and Internet radio service Pandora.

But that streaming service offers almost no Italian music, whether you want classic folk, pop power ballads or moody dubs in dialect.

Enter Soundtracker,  launched in 2010 by two Italian entrepreneurs. Best part: it offers a lot more than just Italian music and the interface is in English.

Register for the site (it’s free) and start listening to artists you know before stone-stepping to those you don’t.

Start with Pino Daniele and you’ll soon be listening to Quintorigo, Almamegretta, 99 Posse and Bandabardo’.

Not sure how the algorithm works, but  it seems a little more freewheeling than Pandora — starting with 70s melodic rocker with a social conscience Fabrizio De’ Andre station got me to an aggro hip-hop number from Caparezza in under four tracks.

You can also download it as an app for your iPhone, Windows Phone 7 and, if you’re so inclined, share your location and tracks with your friends.

Buon ascolto!

4 thoughts on “Check out Soundtracker, like Pandora for Italian music

  1. Any idea of the bandwidth requirements for this?? As you know, here in Italy we have these bandwidth caps, and using streams is well-known method of chewing up your allocation quickly. Since moving from the U.S., I’ve pretty much had to stop using streams because my connectivity is limited to my iPhone and a USB stick for my laptop (both of which utilize utilization caps). I’ve had reasonable luck with a couple of iPhone apps that offer multiple streams at different bandwidths, but apps like those are rare and providers tend to be moving in the “more is better” direction rather than being sympathetic to the needs of us living under usage limitations.

    Great review and info however – I hope to hear good news in return!

  2. Chris — sorry, no idea. In Italy, as here now in SF, I’ve got all-you-can eat service. If I find some info, I’ll let you know.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *