Although it's been around for several years, I find that not everyone is hip to Pandora Radio. Are you?  It's the perfect tool for developing a party playlist, and it's FREE! All you need is a laptop, an AUX cable that'll go from your laptop's headphone jack to your stereo's input jack, and internet access. Got all three? Got a party coming up? Check out Pandora!

First, go to pandora.com, wait for it to finish loading, and then create an account.

Next, create a new station by entering an artist who best captures the type of music you want to hear. Maybe it's the Rolling Stones for a casual BBQ, or Carrie Underwood for a girls' night in, or in my case, Jamiroquai for a funky disco vibe.

Awesome, my Jamiroquai station has been created! Pandora will now play artists that have a similar sound, in addition to songs by Jamiroquai. Appropriately enough, the first song that pops up is "Off the Wall" by Michael Jackson (sigh...RIP).

If I don't like a song that pops up, I can vote it down, and Pandora won't play it again. If I want to hear more songs like that one, I can give it a thumbs up.  If I decide I want to tweak my Jamiroquai station, I click on "add variety" (highlighted in yellow, below)

I can now add Black Eyed Peas, Kanye West, or even Carrie Underwood...really, anything that strikes my fancy, and Pandora will add it to the mix!

So there you go...try Pandora for your next event and never worry about having to mix a playlist yourself!  Note that every now and then there's a commercial, but they are very short and happen infrequently.  They won't interrupt your party's energy.