Last.fm - Where to Find New Music Part 3
April 5th, 2006
I think this is going to be my last post in this series for now, but I have been saving the best for last. In my first post on AllMusic I was talking about different (non-internet) sources for finding new music and probably the most valuable for me is my friends. I found out about most of my favorite bands through friends.
What is Last.fm
Last.fm is a huge database of music fans. Each user has a music profile that outlines their favorite bands and songs. After signing up you can install a plug-in called Audioscrobbler for your media player that will tell last.fm all of the music you listen to. The site uses that information to build a profile for you that includes your recent tracks, top artists, top tracks, and top albums. The profile keeps track of your overall stats and each week updates your weekly listening stats.
Last.fm also provides a radio player similar to Pandora’s which supports all major operating systems including Windows, OS X, and Linux.
How do I use Last.fm to Find New Music?
The great thing about Last.fm is unlike the handmade database that Pandora uses, the users on Last.fm are what build the database. The plug-in users install into their media player tells the site all of the songs they like. Then when people use the site to do a search for a band or song, Last.fm can tell you all of the other bands and songs that are liked by people who liked the song you searched for.
When I do a search for Children of Bodom for example, there is a lot of information provided. We are given a description and history of the band, a list of the top albums with cover images, the top five songs which are available for preview, user tags, related journal posts, related artists, and much more. Let’s say I already listen to Children of Bodom but not Arch Enemy. I can click on the Arch Enemy link under similar and Last.fm will tell me the songs and albums I will probably like from that band. In the same way, I could click on the death metal tag and it will give me a list of bands, songs, and albums that Last.fm users have tagged as death metal
The defining factor of Last.fm is that it is a community. One of my favorite features is the Charts. This gives you the truest weekly top 10 songs and artists possible. Obviously it is skewed because only people who have access to Last.fm and the internet can participate, but it is still a pretty accurate chart.
I have been using Last.fm for a few weeks and it’s pretty cool to look back and see my listening trends over that period.
If you want to read my previous posts on how to find new music, follow the links below.
Allmusic.com - Where to Find New Music
Pandora - Where to Find New Music Part 2
tagged how to, links, music, music database and where to find new music
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