Because I am passionate about music, I tend to be more attracted to this area of life. I enjoy studying it, breaking it down, and acknowledging the ways it changes people and their environment. I am always looking for new ways to compare music to other aspects of culture. So when I first read the Daily Steak’s vision, I was intrigued to say the least. Specifically what intrigued me was the comparison to Pandora. Even more specific was that like Pandora, The Daily Steak app would be customizable to a person’s preferences. The comparison sounded evolutionary. So naturally, being that I was (and am currently) a huge fan of Pandora, I began to make comparisons between the two, and what I found absolutely fascinated me.

I started with certain moments that I could remember in reference to the time period that Pandora first came out. I remembered meeting new people and asking them a question I had asked others countless times: Where did you get this mix? Or, What am I listening to? The answer began to repeat: “This is one of my Pandora channels.”

As the Pandora-era continued, the curiosity of how individuals created their stations also continued. I began to ask questions like: What band did you start your channel with? And, What specific thumbs-ups and thumbs-downs helped evolved the channel to where it is now? The answers were mostly different but all shared one thing. They seem to be unique to each person’s individual tastes. I found it interesting that people were actually sculpting certain channels for certain parts of their day, such as working out, or commuting. I decided that I would become an observer of this news technology’s influence on the emotional atmosphere around me, and to see where that took my curiosity.

I observed music doing something that I knew it could do, and that I know it has done before, which is to magnify the aura of a room. With continued thought on the idea, I came to a conclusion that I believe many others probably have come to as well: this new system of creating streams of music was taking the idea of mood and environment to a new level of consumption. What you are able to get out of a system like this is pure brilliance, a system that molds to fit a specific person, his or her tastes, style, and desire for a unique sound.

When I first read about The Daily Steak I realized that this same idea of customizing one’s outlets for inspiration, knowledge, and relevancy not only can, but also should, be applied to the news. An abundance of emotion often spills out of someone who reads something true and current. There is an excitement and experience to it all that people seem to be drawn to.

I ask you to try to remember one of the countless times you have felt a similar feeling about the songs that were flooding a room, specifically, a time that was produced by a Pandora music channel. Soak those memories for all that they are. Examine, as I have, the uniqueness. Once you have done this I want you to do one last thing. Try to imagine a world where this was possible with news. Try to imagine a room of writers in a coffee shop who all have their own news station, who with the help of an application, on any of their numerous devices, have been able to create a feed of information compiled just for them. This is a concept I am eager to see, to immerse myself in. I want to absorb the creation of its relevancy and brilliance. This is a part of the Daily Steaks vision, and this is what I believe to be the future of news.