As Pandora's Founder, I started the popular personalized radio service in 2000 with the Music Genome Project. In addition to Pandora, I am an award-winning composer and accomplished musician with 20 years of experience in the music industry – spanning production, audio engineering, film scoring and live performance. Trained as a jazz pianist, my musical background spans such genres as rock, blues, jazz and classical music.
I consider myself a musician's musician, and am dedicated to helping talented emerging artists find an audience. In addition to guiding Pandora's overall strategy and vision, I now spend most of my time as Pandora's chief evangelist - traveling the country to connect with some of the tens of millions of people who listen to Pandora. I also work extensively with technology partners, distribution partners, advertisers and investors to help shape the future of Pandora and personalized radio.
Founder @ My days as a film score composer inspired me to create the Music Genome Project, the original idea that helps power Pandora. As a composer, I had to learn the specific musical tastes of each director through ambiguous clues in order to create a score that matched what that director wanted for each scene. This became the motivation to invent a better method for predicting what a listener would want to hear based on the musical characteristics of what that user already likes. My passion for music and past experiences as an artist and composer made the expansion of the Music Genome Project a natural next step. This led to Pandora: an experience that allows fans to discover music and allows artists -- big and small -- to connect with and grow with their audiences. From 2000 to Present (15 years) Film Composer @ Alongside playing in Yellowwood Junction, I also composed scores for independent movies and plays. I continued to score for these mediums until I launched the Music Genome Project in 2000. From 1988 to 2000 (12 years) Pianist @ As the pianist for rock group Yellowwood Junction, I spent almost a decade touring, playing, composing, and recording. Yellowwood Junction experienced some success on the west coast and was even named by KFOG as one of the most promising unsigned bands, though our band couldn’t quite find a way to catch our big break as a self-sustaining group. From 1990 to 1999 (9 years) Nanny @ To help keep my dreams of becoming a successful musician alive, I spent several years as a nanny after graduating college. From 1988 to 1993 (5 years)
Stanford University From 1984 to 1988 Tim Westergren is skilled in: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Music Industry, Public Speaking, Music Theory, Pianist, Radio, Social Networking, Music, Social Media, Composition, Marketing Strategy