Last.fm - an Exploration into the Musical Unknown

If, like me, you are a massive lover of music but are struggling to find something new to listen to then I must recommend last.fm. This website is, on the surface, so easy to use you don't even have to be sober... well, perhaps some degree of brain function is required but lets not get into somantics.

Lets just say that I like the band Deflated Pillow Talk (this is, hopefully, a made up band). All their fans refer to them as DPT. DPT are a chill out band and I'm in the mood to chill out. Only problem is that I've listened to DPT so much that I'm starting to get bored of the material that they've released but I'm still madly in love with the style which they create. This is where last.fm comes in, I simply type DPT into last.fm's search engine and I am played a radio station based around DPT's music genre.

Could it be simpler to discover new music?

Last.fm chooses tracks for you based on the tracks that other registered users play in combination with each other. In a way it builds a database of music where a strong connection between two musicians is defined by how many people listen to both of them. This information is obtaied by last.fm's registered users (it's all free) to allow last.fm to monitor what they listen to. While we are currently (and probably forever more) in a state of internet security fear this, to me, seems a small price to pay to be allowed to listen to free and original music... Just so long as they don't dig any deeper than music taste.

While last.fm is good at what it does, the science of musical taste will probably never be perfected, and so just because one person likes DPT and therefore another 'similar' artist doesn't mean that all DPT fans like that artist. This is where becoming a member has its advantages.

As a member you can select, while listening to randomly selected tracks, to never play a certain song ever again, or alternatively express your love for a cretain track which will undoubtedly strengthen the ties which last.fm has assumedly made between two artists. Also as a member you can chose to allow last.fm to monitor you while you play music from your hard drive, improving your last.fm playlist.

While I am unsure of the legal staus of this website, it seems to have a huge amount of both visitors and members and so there should be no worry with regards to the whole copyright infringement. On a personal level I can say that I have discovered a plethora of amazing bands using this website and am never disappointed by the playlist I am given.

A quick note to make is that persistance is the key when you become a member. The longer you consistently play certain genres, like or dislike tracks etc the firmer you will cement your playlist into something which you truly like. The best and most interesting part of all, in my opinion, is that everyone else is both providing and requiring musical taste to and from other users for this entire project to function.

Try it out, I can almost guarantee that you will discover new music which you will be glad to add to your current playlist.