Last.fm- Music meets web 2.0
If you have seen me at any point in my life without earphones, I either lost them or am working or taking class. My life runs through music, so it is fitting that my cyber life functions accordingly. Last.fm is a music community and social networking site rolled into one. Users can sign up for free and download software that “scrobbles” music they listen to. What is scrobbling you might ask? Scrobbling is basically uploading the information from tracks played in your computer or portable device. With support for most players and devices, it could work as a reference source or an archive for every piece of digital music ever created.
Once the music is uploaded, the site creates charts for the users as well as global charts. It automatically organizes them in several different categories, including most played for artist, albums or tracks and those can be further divided by time frames. It serves as a music log, which allows people to track down their own musical history, not to mention that of the entire world.
Like any other networking site, users can befriend other users, leave comments, join communities and post in forums. The site also provides a music compatibility chart, which measures how much similar music users share and the ability to create blogs. Every artist uploaded gets its own webpage, complete with a wiki, pictures, bulletin board, video links, track charts, , the number of played tracks and links to tagged blogs.
Last.fm features streaming radio, downloadable songs and sample tracks. It also allows independent labels and bands to promote and upload their music through their service. The users in several ways control the radio stations. Firstly, the information gathered through the audioscrobbler enables it to function as a music recommender. Secondly, the site features a tagging system for tracks, which create radio stations. Users can create and customize their own personal stations.
It is no doubt a haven for any music snob. The only major problem I perceive is that music recommendations in languages that are not English work poorly, as artist tend to be lumped together. This is supposed to improve with time as more people use the service. There are also users trying to cheat the system by spamming scrobbled tracks, which detracts from the intended accuracy of the global charts. If used properly, this could serve as a vehicle to track down what people’s listening habits and a great opportunity for people all over the world to bond. This could also search as a powerful research tool for music researchers and a powerful tool for discovering new music.
If you love music and social networking, you should definitely give Last.fm a shot.
P.S. - I added a last.fm widget that is linked to my profile's radio station and recently played charts.
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