One service I’ve been enjoying is Last.fm, my current favorite internet radio site. I like to listen to music while I write, or when I code. I seem to work better when I have music playing.
If I don’t want to listen to the ripped CDs in my iTunes library, I turn to Last.fm. Last.fm tries to play music you will like, based off what you have listened to in the past. It uses other users’ music tags, ratings, and listening habits, coupled with your own, to feed you music that it thinks you will like. It can even track what you listen to on your iPod so it has more data to work off.
Last.fm generally supplies music that I like well enough, and seems to be getting even better at doing so as it gathers more data.
The site is also a little bit of a social network, allowing you to see what kind of music your friends like, what they have listened to lately, and factors the data into their algorithm in some way. You can even listen to a station of just your friends’ music.
If you’re not already using Last.fm, try it out. Discover some new music.
