Playing with last.fm in the last days

On the past days I discovered last.fm, a social-tagged-internet-radio that allows you to discover new music from people with similar taste. I have been a bit "busy" trying to build my last.fm profile in order to better define my musical tastes to other users. The amazing thing is that the system is integrated with iTunes (and even the iPod) so your profile is defined from what you actually listen to.

My first reaction was: ok, I am an electronic music junkie who loves Detroit Techno so I will communicate last.fm how much I love Detroit artists and tracks... My surprise was: I can't do that, at least directly. It is not possible to edit your tastes in the profile... How it works, then?

First, you need to download iScrobbler, a small app that monitors iTunes and sends the information to last.fm. A last.fm profile is "what you listen" and not "what you claim to listen". That's a big difference. If you love a track, don't build your profile rating it "5 stars". For last.fm, a loved track is a track that you play a lot of times. The same goes for artists.

Your actions, not your words, define your last.fm profile. That protects us from people who say "I love IDM" but they are actually listening to Britney all the time. This is more accurate, and I am starting now to fully appreciate this approach, even when it can confuse beginners (like me). You can check my last.fm profile here.

But that's not all. If you download the last.fm player then you can actually listen to a HUGE database of music. You can even create your personal radio (profile-based) and listen to the personal radio of other users or groups, like the Detroit Techno last.fm group. There is even tagged radio. Check, for example, the Detroit Techno tag radio.

last.fm is a dream for people that are always in exploratory mode with regard to music. Other people already have enough with MTV.

Tags: ambient, detroit, dj, electronic, IDM, ipod, last.fm, music, techno