I have previously opened an account with last.fm when it was free to listen all day everyday. We used to listen to last.fm in the office where I used to work. We had decided to use this service as we were growing tired of the content we had on our iTunes and were looking for new, different and appropriate music for the office where everyone was happy.\
I particularly liked how you could search any artist that you like, eg Lilly Allen, and you can listen to a “radio station” that is dedicated to music of similar taste and genre as the artist you searched for. The beauty of this service is that you can stumble upon new artists or groups that you have not known about before. I remember discovering “Fannypack” on last.fm. We were listening to the M.IA last.fm station and their song “Camel Toe” came on. They are not mainstream and are not on the commercial radio stations. I liked their quirky lyrics and pop sound, and I went ahead and downloaded their latest album and searched on YouTube for their film clip for their song “Camel Toe”
A great feature you can do with these music communities is share your recent tracks on your Facebook as you are listening to your favourite station. So people anywhere in the world can know what your listening to and could strike up a new friendship and/or conversation.
The main problem I do have with last.fm is the fact that on my internet service it takes forever to startup a station. Living in regional Australia with ADSL not available to me at this point in time, my wireless internet service can’t cope with the streaming and eats up a lot of my data allowance. So, while I work and study from home, I limit my time using these types of services. Though, I do love the ability to search artists, find similar artist and uncover new ways to discover myself and express my personality.
I also created a new account on grooveshark.com. I found that is was quick to load up and easy to create an account with them. Though you can also listen and search music without creating an account. It has a “Windows” style interface which, for those who use PC, would be familiar with the interface and find navigating through the site easy. Being a Mac user myself, I considered this a con instead of a pro for the site. You can search for songs, create play lists, share your play lists with other users and if you are coming to the end of your play list, grooveshark.com finds similar genre songs so you have continuous music without you having to search for more.
But you don’t get as much variety as you do with last.fm. I found that with last.fm you could discover new artist much easier, move away from the mainstream music, and express your music personality more freely. But the slowness of the website is it’s downfall and the fact you have to pay to play (after a free 30 track trial). Both sites had easy access to download the songs or albums, both of them directing you to iTunes as a source. last.fm and grooveshark.com both have their pros and cons, but with my internet limitations, grooveshark.com would be my selected website for now. Though I do see how last.fm has massive potential for the music industry to expand in the future.
REFERENCES“kat18f’s Music Profile – Users at Last.fm.” Last.fm – Listen to free music with internet radio and the largest music catalogue online. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://www.last.fm/user/kat18f>.
expertvillage. ” YouTube – Fannypack’s “Camel Toe” .” YouTube – Broadcast Yourself. . N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3I64m0x6wI>.
“Grooveshark – Listen to Free Music Online – Internet Radio – Free MP3 Streaming.” Grooveshark – Listen to Free Music Online – Internet Radio – Free MP3 Streaming. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/settings/services>.
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