I've been a member of this website Last.fm for about a year and a half now, and I don't know why I'm so obsessed with it. It's basically a Facebook for music lovers, letting people create profiles with the twist that it tracks all of the music you listen to on your computer and lists it on your profile. Sounds a little weird, I know, but for some reason it's very appealing.
It tells me how many tracks I've played (18,792 since I joined), the top artists I listen to (Sufjan is number 1) and the top tracks I listen to (number one is 'For the Widows in Paradise, for the Fatherless in Ypsilanti by Sufjan). It also has an up-to-the minute account of the last 10 songs I've played. The site then uses this information to create a world-wide-web of music lovers, telling me who I have the most similar music taste to (someone with the profile name y2penni is my musical match, though Ben is a close number 2) and letting me add friends, join groups, and all that fun stuff.
My problem with Last.fm is that I'm scared it's making music something a little more superficial than it is. I feel sometimes like I'm so focused on adding to my music statistics that it takes away from the quality and art of the music. Sometimes I'll leave a playlist going in my room while I go to class - just so I can add to my profile. This is a weird sensation to me. I mean, I guess it's not a big deal; I still listen to a lot of new music and appreciate good stuff. But with the addition of a record player to my room, I'm finding it interesting that I have this weird insecurity when I listen to the records because they're not tracking on Last.fm. That is weird.
Anyway, I'm not complaining about the site, but it's just an interesting note. Here are my Top 10 artists that I listen to, according to Last.fm (click here to check out my profile):
1. Sufjan Stevens (1,198 total plays)
2. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (651)
3. Modest Mouse (539)
4. Elliott Smith (472)
5. The Beatles (458)
6. Tom Waits (440)
7. Radiohead (382)
8. Explosions in the Sky (378)
9. Wilco (368)
10. M. Ward (342)
1 comment:
I love lastfm and I too have been tempted to leave my music playing so I could get fall out boy and high school musical off my top artsists (no offense).. but I just recently had to reset my itunes and all my lastfm stuff was reset as well.... I had a bunch of plays but now, all I have are the songs Ive listened to in the last week, including top artists... it kind of sucks, but oh well... yeah blog!~
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