I must make an embarrassing confession. This morning I logged into my Last.fm account for the first time since June 2008. Has it been that long? Gads! I've really got to start using the service again. Is it a question of Last.fm irrelevance? Nah. Blame iTunes, which I gave up using a few months ago, and hassles with tagging songs. When I last used Last.fm Scrobbler for the Mac -- granted years ago -- there were, ah, issues. I'm on Windows now, where Last.fm and Microsoft are hug-a-beasts.
Last.fm emailed me today about a new service, which is what got me looking around again after being so long absent. Last.fm Discover is supposed to help you better discover independent music. Hey, I'm all for that. I was a deejay in my youth, back before the Federal Communications Commission deregulated radio and jocks had to pass a test to get one of three "Class" licenses.
"Our team has grappled over the years on how to best overcome the barriers of discovering new music, whether it be finding new artists from around the globe, downloading tracks or sharing with friends. Last.fm Discover solves this problem", Matthew Hawn, Last.fm veep, says. "By working with the Microsoft innovation team we’re able to bring a huge library of independent music to new audiences. We want people to discover, listen and share new music and Last.fm Discover gives a new and engaging way of doing just that".
Working with Microsoft? Yeah. Just hop on over to Last.fm Discover using another browser but Internet Explorer 9, and you'll be prompted to download it.
"We're always looking for new and outstanding ways to bring fantastic HTML5 experiences to Internet Explorer 9 users, and this new site from Last.fm will not disappoint", Gabby Hegerty, UK IE lead, says. The site didn't disappoint in Chrome 16 either. The site is clean and fluid.
So what exactly can you discover? That perhaps depends on your definition of "independent". I tried searching for Black Keys, which has a new album, rising single ("Lonely Boy"), but isn't a top-of-charter. Last.fm Discover discovered nothing, presenting message: "You've reached the end of the Internet". My God! It's not infinite, like the universe, after all? Next up: Silversun pickups. Success! And a surprise.
Call me an idiot -- well, many BetaNews commenters already do that -- because when I hit "play" Last.fm didn't serve up Silversun Pickups but like-genre independents. First up: "Two Constellations" by And Their Sons, which, hotdamn, I liked. Now that's music discovery. The service presents options "More like this" and "Something different", for finding more good stuff.
Next up, I searched for "Oasis", now finally understanding what the service is about. I listened to seasonal "Noel on The Moon (Song of Christmas Future)" by Tiny Tide, which didn't appeal to me. Next pick from the many Oasis-like bands: "Turn & Run" by We Do Not Negotiate With Terrorists, which appealed much more. Next up, the even better "I Owe It All To You", by Rory Robinson, who I am familiar with, and "Thinking out Loud" by Modern Alarms.
What surprised me: Last.fm Discover presents no obvious way to buy the music. Beneath the tags for tracks is "More info", which links to the Last.fm band page and option to buy a ringtone -- for the five bands I checked. Shouldn't the point be to sell independent music?
I cut my teeth on independents back when Virgin Records was just a few years old and signed the Sex Pistols. Ah, yes, the late 70s, when Baby Boomer siblings rebelled against their Disco dancing brothers and sisters and when punk was a lifestyle and not the day's fashion (look at Green Day!). Can Last.fm Discover help keep the service relevant in the Spotify era? You tell me.