Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Looking For Music
Yesterday, I was reminded of some old Websites I used to visit to find out about bands I might like but had previously not heard of before. I decided to revisit a number of these sites and try them out again to see if they're as useful as I used to find them.
Well, I was saddened to find out that Pandora is no longer allowed to broadcast in this country due to "licensing constraints". This project is an online radio station, where you type in a band whose music you like, and you get to listen to music by other bands who you might like. It's a brilliant idea, and one that introduced me to a few bands I would never have learnt about otherwise. I think it was a paid-for service, but with a certain amount of hours free, so you could try before you buy.
So, I wondered, where can I go to find out about music that I haven't heard but might enjoy? There were two other sites I used to go to for such purposes but neither allow you to listen to music and see if you like it (else, I suppose, they would also be banned in this country). So, if any of the names that pop up catch your eye, it's up to you to research their music for yourself. It's more time-consuming, but can be worth the effort.
The first I visited yesterday was Music Plasma. You type in an artist or band you like, and it produces a complex diagram linking other artists you might enjoy (you can also do this for films and actors). You can then click on names of people/bands you also enjoy and be shown more choices. I personally find this too odd to be useful to me, and it also showed far too many artists or bands that I'm not keen on, so I wasn't sure how well I could trust such recommendations.
The other site I visited is Gnoosic, where you type in up to three bands or artists you like, and then are shown a list of other bands/artists, one at a time that you can rate as "I like it" or "I don't like it" or "I don't know it". I found this one more useful than Music Plasma, but it depended what bands I inputted to how useful the output was.
For instance, if I typed "The Travelling Wilburys" as one of my choices, then I would inevitably be offered "Roy Orbison" or "Jeff Lynne" or "Electronic Light Orchestra" or "George Harrison" or "Ringo Starr" or "Paul McCartney" or "John Lennon" or all of the above. Interestingly, I don't think it ever asked me about Tom Petty or Bob Dylan, but then I didn't take the test enough times for this to be conclusive of anything. I don't think it is helpful to spell out the obvious choices - I want to be suggested some names I've not heard of before, along with one or two I do know so I can decide whether it's worth my time to investigate the others.
Gnoosic did, however, remind me of a band I've had mentioned before, but never really looked into, and now, after a bit of research, I'm kicking myself! The Reindeer Section is a supergroup with people from several bands I love and they've released two albums. Why did I never bother to research them before? Having visited The Reindeer Section's Myspace page and listened to a sample of their music there, I have found some new music to love, and will have to sort out acquiring their albums asap! Oh, why is Christmas so far away???
So, in conclusion, my favourite of the two is Gnoosic, but only because Pandora is no longer an option - bring back Pandora!!!
Oh, and in other news, word count = 7,216.
