Pandora is a music app for non-music people

Exactly.  The only people that would legitimately enjoy Pandora are mindless dolts without the spine to hold musical preferences, or perhaps a human being who has spent their entire life in a cavern under the earth and is just emerging for the first time.  Having some bullshit software program build you a playlist is not gonna work, you need to do that for yourself.

I find the radio highly irritating. I prefer to listen to an entire album from a band, and then eventually listen their entire discography (if I like them enough). That way you can get to know all of their songs, instead of the "hits".

Look at Black Sabbath, for example. I feel like the Classic Rock Radio stations only play the same 3-4 songs from that group, over and over. It's annoying. I'm sick of always hearing "Iron Man" and "War Pigs". Sabbath has a huge discography, with various vocalists. I'd rather hear some variety.

The radio is randomized so it's supposed to contain variety, but actually doesn't. If you want real variety, you have to dig deeper yourself.

Pandora started with the best intentions, the Music Genome Project. A wealth of music connected by mathematical and heuristic algorithms, where you could plop in a song and maybe be surprised by something similar you didn't expect, but still with enough of the qualities you liked when you started listening.

Then they fucked up...how you ask? By letting too many dipshits have opinions. Hey you like The Cure? Well I guess that mean you must like everything single stupid fucking song ever written in the '80s! The massive popularity spike coupled by a legion of tasteless assclowns liking and disliking has completely decimated whatever tenuous idea was established in the beginning, then most of the catalog got wiped and replaced with record company darling 'Greatest Hits' compilations. That's why you never hear anything obscure or interesting, Pandora played dick-fiddle to advertisers and the RIAA. Now it's nothing more than a second-rate streaming service that stops in the middle of your session with 'Are you still there?' prompt. Yes I'm here, I told you to play so play asshole. You're better off making a custom playlist in Spotify or some shit.

Ever tried AdBlock? It removes YouTube ads completely. Or do you think it is kind of unethical to use it? (perhaps this question deserves its own topic)

I use it at home, but I do most of my music listening at the office.

The ethics of blocking ads is an interesting topic.

That's only true for porn sites and other scummy areas.