On Jan 10, 2008, at 2:32 PM, aleks vasic wrote:
Rod,
How is Last FM? I have seen quite a few people displaying their
play list and it seems that there is quite an eclectic choice of
music offered? You like? Complaints? Is there a membership fee
for special privileges, or is there just one standard sign up and
your off to the races?
In a nutty-shell:
You download an unobtrusive bit of software
that tracks what you are listening to in your audio player
(it used to be solely iTunes).
After a week or so, people start noticing what you're
tastes are and may gravitate to you by asking you
to become friends of which you can decide yes or no.
I think that this makes it a bit different (read: "subdued")
than MySpace in that you could go for weeks or months
without anyone "insisting" on friendship - ha!
I've been a member for 3 years now
(I took some time off this December
then changed to a predictable, but new, name
on the first of the new year)
and I love it 'cause it's the opposite of a
typical music forum. In a music forum
("Jazz", "the music of John Cage", and
dare I say "microsound". etc.),
the content is pretty much spelled out beforehand.
This is great when you want to concentrate on
these areas, but sometimes when your taste is all over the map
it's good to have L-FM as an alternative.
There, you play whatever the hell you like,
and folks gravitate towards you.
Of course, you can always seek out other likeminded
folks, but I like it when they can come to you
on the basis of what you've already been listening to.
The "friends" that you meet are, in most cases,
people who are actually interested in the styles of
sound that you explore.
You can listen thru Last.FM as well:
1) to other people's radio stations
(these are radio streams based on
the member's tastes)
or
2) pick an artist or "tag" (musical style: "Microsound"
"Ethiopian jazz", "Arabic",
"Balinese (or Javanese) Gamelan", etc...)
and listen to that artist/style or similar.
As a matter of fact, you can do that right now
without registering by just typing it in on the homepage.
The sound world there is incredibly diverse!
...but you are only allowed to upload your own stuff
because of copyright...but, still,
you can make some incredible discoveries
and spend hours of time listening.
They state that the sound pool comes mostly from some independent
source that they don't reveal, but I've been amazed by
the esoteric things that you can listen to and sometimes
download for free.
...and, yes, the whole thing is free - they *do* have a $3/month
subscription
if you want to become a subscriber,
but I can't see that you get much more
out of the experience by being one.
I think you have to be one tho if you want to upload your own
music and/or label stuff.
The microsound tag needs some additions tho - ha!:
http://www.last.fm/tag/microsound/albums
I think our very own "Craque" is a member as well.
Maybe he could shed some more light...
Also, check the FAQ on the bottom of their pages
if it sound interesting.
best,
R~~
---
Now playing: Kin Ping Meh - Fairy-Tales
http://www.last.fm/user/RodStasick/