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

In this installment I’m going to show you a ridiculous web application called Pandora that was created by the Music Genome Project. What is Pandora then? Well think of it as your own personal radio station that only plays music that you like! Wouldn’t that be nice? Well Pandora is the closest anything has come to just that. The advantage to Pandora over a site like AllMusic.com is you get to go by the sound of the music, not just the name of a band or song.

So how does it work?
When you visit Pandora it asks you for the name of an artist or the name of a song. For example I gave it the name Eric Clapton. If Pandora has music from that artist in its database it will start by playing a song from them. After that song is done playing Pandora will pick another artist who has a similar musical, lyrical, and instrumental style to the first artist you chose.

After playing I’m Tore down by Clapton for me, Pandora played a live version of Hotel California by the eagles. For each song Pandora plays you have several options that include:

• Why did you play this song – a list of the qualities the song has which made Pandora choose it
• Make a new station from this song – create a station which will play songs similar to this one
• Buy this song from iTunes – so you can add it to your personal collection
• Buy this album from Amazon – so you can own the album for your personal collection
• I like it – will teach Pandora to play more songs like this one on this station
• I don’t like it – will teach Pandora not to play more songs like this one on this station
• Add to your favorites page – adds the song to a list of your favorite songs for later

Pandora (for its own monetary gain I’m sure) gives you direct access to iTunes and Amazon so you can buy any of the music you like. I think this is a really great feature that any music database should have.

Pandora allows you to create a few stations and play around with it but to be able to get the full experience it’s a good idea to register. If you register you can login from any computer and pull up your stations and favorites lists.

If you don’t know about Pandora you should head over and give it a shot. If anything its fun to play with for a while.

For other sites you can use to find new music check out my other post about AllMusic.com.

But what happens when you are in a slum, all of the music you have is old and the thrill is gone. You are looking for something new, but similar to what you are interested in now, but don’t know how to find it. I hope I can shed some light on some great resources for finding new bands.

Allmusic.com is one of my favorite music databases. It has been around for quite some time and has some really great features for finding new music. Some of the features to look out for are:

• Similar artists – Other artists that have a similar sound
• Influenced by – Artists who have influenced ther sound
• Followers – Artists who have been influenced by their sound
• Genre – Other artists in the same genre
• Styles – Other artists who have a similar playing style

If we do a search for Zakk Wylde at allmusic.com we are going to find someone different under each of the above categories. A similar group to Zakk Wylde is Pantera. Randy Rhoads influenced Zakk Wylde. Under the genre Southern Rock we find other bands like The Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The genre section provides top albums and songs within that genre as well. Finally by choosing the broader “Rock” link under genre we get a list of all the styles encompassed under rock. However, a downside to allmusic is that it has restricted areas for registered members. If you want to gain full access to the site you will have to register. Regardless, the site still provides a lot of leads for people looking for new music.

Now I know, Pantera, Allman Brothers, and Lynyrd Skynyrd are all common bands, chances are the majority of people probably have heard them. Well, that’s not completely true. Depending on what kind of a music background you come from, you may not have broken into classic rock. Even at that, Allman brothers are not one of the hugest bands. I just picked those ones because they were common. Looking at Zakk Wylde on allmusic shows lots of artists I have never listened to. Judas Priest, Motorhead, Saigon Kick, Skid Row, Danzig, and Tracii Guns to name a few I have never heard.

Now maybe you find someone that sounds interesting. From Zakk Wylde maybe you are referred to Pantera. How do you know what Pantera album to listen to first? You could go for the newest, or the oldest, or you could read the reviews right on allmusic. If you click on the discography tab it will show you that Vulgar Display of Power is Pantera’s most popular album. It even goes beyond that and indicates the most popular songs on that album with a check mark.

The great part is that even if Pantera is a band that you already know, you can look up the similar artists undethem and find others that weren’t listed under Zakk.

Final Notes
Allmusic is an edited database. Therefore although anyone can submit information, an editor reviews it all before it is published on the site. This post here only began to scratch the surface of what is available at allmusic. It is one of my favorite sites and anyone who doesn’t know about it should at least give it a quick look.