In the digital age, getting perfect music recommendations has become easier than ever. Gone are the days when you had to strain yourself to flip on the radio or take the time to meet with a few friends to discuss new artists.
Instead, the process today is as easy as the following: sign up for an account with Pandora and take a few days voting songs up or down to sufficiently engage its algorithm; pull together a few dozen carefully-chosen music blogs into your RSS reader; and learn how to use music recommendation services including Last.FM, MyStrands, iLike and Musicovery, which function as either websites, desktop applications or add-ons to iTunes or Windows Media Player.
You’ll be on top of every artist in your favorite genre in no time!
But although this process couldn’t be any more crystal clear, it seems that people are demanding even more effective tools for finding new music.
A recent study by Orpheus Media Research, a music research and development company, found that people question the accuracy of these music services. 40 percent of participants reported that the recommendations were accurate less than half the time and 22 percent went so far as to say that it was difficult or even impossible to find new music that they liked.
How could the recommendation engines fail to take into account such vital criteria as the mood and level of intoxication of the listeners when they first heard a song? Or their opinion on the political views of the artist?
About half of participants in the survey advocated a single website for all their music needs where they could match their current favorite artists and songs to new ones. With hundreds of entrepreneurs, major music vendors and record labels battling over billion dollar markets, we’ll expect this centralized resource to be rolled out very soon.
Finally, the study confirmed popular opinion that 0 percent of music fans have ever found new music illegally through peer-to-peer file sharing networks, because the prospect of breaking copyright law is enough to make any web surfer tremble with fear.
Music recommendation services, looking real ticklish!
Photo by mrceviz
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on March 24th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
I think you can learn a lot more about music from a good radio station with real people making music selections than from a music service algorithm. College radio stations are staffed with people who are passionate about music, who seek out new music, listen to it live, and want to share their passion with the world. They find music by local musicians, foreign groups, and other artists who may not be part of the corporate libraries from which the music services draw. And a good dj will always throw in some things that are really different from what you’d expect…and I don’t know if that would happen with algorithms. I like trying all the different college stations accessible thru iTunes radio and have gotten exposure to many different artists I’d never heard of before.
on March 25th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
I agree with Blue pencil up to a point–but I also like Pandora and Last FM, since there I can specify a particular genre or style when I’m in the mood. The two options are not exclusive.
on March 30th, 2011 at 7:39 pm
I definitely agree with Ben Bulben that the options aren’t exclusive. It’s interesting when companies, such as Apple, realize this and offer both. You can benefit from human selection with the iTunes radio stations mentioned by blue pencil and then transition to algorithmic recommendations in iTunes Genius in a second.
blue.pencil Reply:
March 31st, 2011 at 1:12 pm
I don’t know. There’s just something that rubs me the wrong way about robots getting so involved in our lives. First they suggest we listen to The Decemberists; next thing you know they’re marrying our daughters.