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diff --git a/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2006/10.30.06/Wed/lastfm.txt b/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2006/10.30.06/Wed/lastfm.txt deleted file mode 100644 index fc3165e..0000000 --- a/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2006/10.30.06/Wed/lastfm.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1 +0,0 @@ -[We've looked at Last.fm before][1] back when it launched three years ago, but with today's release of new features I'd thought I'd check in a see what's changed.
Last.fm's bread and butter feature is it's collaborative filtering which is analogous to Amazon's recommendations and that remains unchanged. Instead today's update focuses on auxiliary features, an improved Flash music player, concert listings, free downloads, a "Taste-o-meter" and slightly redesigned music pages.
The most immediately noticeable change is the new Flash music player embedded in nearly music every page. The new music player means you can listen to Last.fm either through the browser or through the Last.fm client. To set your preference head to your user profile and adjust the setting to the playback method of your choice.
The ability to listen through the browser is nice, but the biggest feature in today's announcement is undoubtedly the addition of concert and event listings. The breadth of listings is subpar at the moment (apparently no one is playing in Los Angeles this week), but Last.fm has promised to add more listings and of course you can always add your own events. In addition to your own listings, you can view what events your friends are attending and Last.fm will recommend events based on your profile.
Last.fm offers free downloads for bands/labels that will allow it. Unfortunately finding tracks you want requires quite a bit of digging at the moment. Last.fm claims they're trying to come up with a better system, but until they do, the downloads feature is almost more work than it's worth.
The new "Taste-o-meter" is an extension of the collaborative filtering mechanism Last.fm employs. The taste-o-meter tells you at a glance whether you have any common musical ground with other listeners. Whenever you visit another listeners profile page, the taste-o-meter appears in the top left corner so you can see at a glance what music you have in common.
Judging by user comments on the site, the new artist pages aren't very popular. A number of people dismiss them as simply "ugly." As with the rest of the site, how you feel about the redesigned artist pages may be somewhat determined by how you feel about gradients.
Regardless of how the interface design strikes you, Last.fm's changes bring some welcome new features and should make users happy.
[*This post was written by Scott Gilbertson of [Monkey Bites][2] the Wired News blog covering daily developments in software and web services.*]
[1]: http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,59522,00.html "Wired News: Last.fm: Music to Listeners' Ears"
[2]: http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/ "Monkey Bites"
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