THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Fun Stuff => BAND => Topic started by: Jackie Blue on 11 Dec 2007, 16:11

Title: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Jackie Blue on 11 Dec 2007, 16:11
I wish last.fm had a "never play me this ARTIST again" button.  Seriously, every fucking time I try to listen to and find out about bands who are similar to Broken Social Scene, Stars, Wolf Parade, Arcade Fire, anything like that, it inevitably tries to make me listen to fucking Of Montreal, Sufjan Stevens, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Modest Mouse, and assorted other crap that I hate.

God.  Damn.  It.

I'm going to go back to "artists similar to M83", even if I've already heard all of them before.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Johnny C on 11 Dec 2007, 16:22
You are aware that there are portions of Canada not located in Ontario and Quebec, and that bands exist in those other areas?

I'm just checking.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Jackie Blue on 11 Dec 2007, 16:26
Well those were just the artists that immediately came to mind as being the style of music I'm in the mood for.

My main point being I don't see how Bloc Party, the Killers or Arctic Monkeys are "similar to" Broken Social Scene, damn it.

I just know it's because there are a bunch of kids out there who like a bunch of shit bands but also happen to like one or two good bands and fuck everything up for the rest of us.

Damn you kids!
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: imapiratearg on 11 Dec 2007, 16:30
*Ahem.* (http://www.pandora.com)
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Jackie Blue on 11 Dec 2007, 16:37
Our band was named when local club owner and friend told the other founding band member one night "You guys are playing, you have no choice" and we didn't even have a name yet.  Later that night they were drunk and talking about how having grey hair is nothing to be ashamed of, which led to the comment "Of course not, Lee Ranaldo has full-on silver wings!"

It's funny when people from Brazil send us messages assuming that we are Lee Ranaldo.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: KickThatBathProf on 11 Dec 2007, 17:02
*Ahem.* (http://www.pandora.com)

Yes.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Katherine on 11 Dec 2007, 17:04
I am in full agreement with you on this.  I can't scramble fast enough for the ban button whenever Last.fm decides to play Joanna Newsome.  I fucking hate her.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: UberDrivel on 11 Dec 2007, 19:28
I wish last.fm had a "never play me this ARTIST again" button.  Seriously, every fucking time I try to listen to and find out about bands who are similar to Broken Social Scene, Stars, Wolf Parade, Arcade Fire, anything like that, it inevitably tries to make me listen to fucking Of Montreal, Sufjan Stevens, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Modest Mouse, and assorted other crap that I hate

Well, those bands all seem to occupy some people's idea of indie.  I'm sure there's more to their picks than those four artists, but maybe you should try different bands/keywords.  "Shoegaze" was generally a good station.  Btw, we're "Very High" in compatibility.  But how could you hate Sufjan? :(

Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Katherine on 11 Dec 2007, 19:40
There is a way to delete scrobbled songs within a certain amount of time.

If you click on "Recently Scrobbled Songs" it will bring up a list of everything you've listened to in recent history and from there you can delete stuff.  I would give you more detailed information but Last.fm is being a dick right now and not loading the page for me.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Jackie Blue on 11 Dec 2007, 19:41
Yeah, I know all those are considered by some to be "indie" but I never click "play artists tagged indie" because, wow, it would play me a lot of crap.  I just wish people would be more careful when comparing bands.

For example, if I pick a fairly obscure band like Hash Jar Tempo or Flying Saucer Attack, it will play artists that actually do sound similar to those bands.  But "play me music that sounds like Arcade Fire" should have a higher chance of playing me Bruce Springsteen than, say, The Mars Volta.  A much, much higher chance, in fact.

"Shoegaze" works pretty well usually, the problem is that it just plays me bands/songs I've already heard a million times before.   :-(

As far as Sufjan Stevens, I think he's extremely mediocre and his opinion of his own material is inflated, let alone the opinion of his fans.

And you can remove things from your recently played list.  Click the little trashcan after you click "edit/see more"
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Alex C on 11 Dec 2007, 20:23
Yeah, I'm afraid if there were a most useless genre title olympics "indie" would take the bronze after narrowly losing out to "rock" and "alternative". Sorry, "and some rap", you'll get your chance in another 4 years.

I really am tired of people who feel the need to put a qualifier on liking rap, however. All genres are plagued with some shit. Get some testicles and just admit to liking rap, dammit.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: SliverArion on 11 Dec 2007, 21:42
*Ahem.* (http://www.pandora.com)

I would like to thank you for this link . last was driving me nutters
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: SeanBateman on 11 Dec 2007, 21:54
Man this thread is bad.

Also you are bad for hating both Modest Mouse and of Montreal.

Stupid.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: E. Spaceman on 11 Dec 2007, 22:02
man, last.fm is kinda shit. I find new music by word of mouth, friends and randomness
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Hat on 11 Dec 2007, 22:37
I only listen to music that Emilio likes.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Leinad on 11 Dec 2007, 23:05
Dude, all I have to say is that Pandora Radio FTW!!
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: KharBevNor on 12 Dec 2007, 00:13
If you want artists similiar to something popular (Like Arcade Fire, or Broken Social Scene, which are both consistently in last.fms top 200 charts, above artists such as Kylie Minogue and OutKast) then maybe Pandora is your best bet, though it is a ridiculous, pathetic, flawed, stupid system. Actually, your best bet is probably to contact Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene and pursuade them to set up their last.fm accounts properly. Bands or labels can weight their own recommendations (A feature introduced to solve the 'Bob Marley Dilemma', ie the old situation where Bob Marleys top similiar artists used to be The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix and The Doors). Anyway, if you are expecting similiar artists to produce music that sounds the same, you misunderstand how the last.fm system works. Last.fm works by what people listen to. Similiar artists are calculated by an algorithm that collates the number of an artists fans that listen to another artist, and weight them by their popularity on those peoples charts. This is why recommendations become less finely tuned the more popular an artist gets. Once bands start being listened to by the kind of people whose charts are recommendation lists written by Pitchfork, NME, the Billboard Charts or some such source, then they obviously get confused with similiarly popular artists.

The solution is to be more indie.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: E. Spaceman on 12 Dec 2007, 00:34
I only listen to music that Emilio likes.

brett, where the fuck have you been
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Hat on 12 Dec 2007, 01:08
Dude shut up this is traumatizing enough already, I come back to the internet after two months and oink is gone.

Just shut up and let me work through my grief
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Felix_ on 12 Dec 2007, 01:25
Uhm...can't you just skip the track?

Then again, I don't know what kind of frequency those artists readily appear on the radio, since I rarely if ever listen to it.
I love Last.FM though, for a myriad of reasons.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: october1983 on 12 Dec 2007, 06:47
This is pretty much exactly why I never use any of the last.fm stations. I like lastfm because I'm kind of curious about what I listen to, and because the recommendations can be cool, but I make a point of checking recommendations on the site and following through that, rather than listening to my station and being assaulted with bands that I've heard a million times before.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: SeanBateman on 12 Dec 2007, 07:57
I like Last.FM because I get to see how obscure the bands I listen to are!
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: mryen on 12 Dec 2007, 09:22
Sorry, "and some rap", you'll get your chance in another 4 years.
I laughed at this.

Also, is it really that painful to listen to music you've heard before?  This is not in response to the thread starter, but to others here that hate when last.fm plays stuff you already know about.  I guess if you're using it to find new music, great, but can you really get pissy about a "radio station" that plays shit you already know and like?
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: KharBevNor on 12 Dec 2007, 13:18
If you subscribe to last.fm, like me, then you get discovery mode, which only plays things you have not heard before. Plus you get the loved tracks radio and personal tag radio.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: imapiratearg on 12 Dec 2007, 13:23
Frankly Khar, I think if you're looking for obscure stuff, Pandora is the way to go.  I have heard things on Pandora, that I have never seen on Last.fm.  Some of which I can't even find on Myspace.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Vancroth on 12 Dec 2007, 15:28
That's strange.  When I tried Pandora, I put in Circle Takes the Square and it didn't know who I was talking about.  Maybe there are a few, but I'm pretty sure last.fm is better for the obscure.  It only needs for some to scrobble it or for the artist to upload music, while Pandora requires that the people behind the site know about the artist, listen to their stuff, analyze it, and then add it.  Therefore, it seems like last.fm would have more obscure artists.

In response to zerodrone, try listening to a station based around one of the more obscure artists that are similar to the more popular artist.  This seems to work pretty well for both last.fm and Pandora.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 12 Dec 2007, 15:37
does last.fm work on multiple computers? i signed up last night but haven't downloaded the program yet because i listen to music at home and at work (probably more so at work) so i didn't wanna put it on my home computer if i wouldn't be able to put on my computer at work as well.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Vancroth on 12 Dec 2007, 15:39
I'm 95% sure that it does.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 12 Dec 2007, 15:40
excellent. thanks.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: yossarian07 on 12 Dec 2007, 16:08
*Ahem.* (http://www.pandora.com)
My thoughts exactly
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Jackie Blue on 12 Dec 2007, 16:36
No, I'm sorry, Pandora completely sucks for "obscure" music.  It doesn't even know who Hash Jar Tempo is.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: Katherine on 12 Dec 2007, 17:36
I used to use Pandora but I switched to Last.fm in Oct and have been pretty happy with it overall.  I will admit though that the deciding factor in the switch was Last.fm's events section.

And yes, you can use Last.fm on multiple computers, I use it at work and at home with no problems.

Scrobble away!
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: sombrasoubrette on 12 Dec 2007, 18:44
fucking Of Montreal, Sufjan Stevens, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Modest Mouse, and assorted other crap that I hate.


Identical list.I have gotten Sufjan on every single thing I have ever typed in. Including bands that have never been associated with Sufjan Stevens EVER.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: mryen on 12 Dec 2007, 19:30
Frankly Khar, I think if you're looking for obscure stuff, Pandora is the way to go.  I have heard things on Pandora, that I have never seen on Last.fm.  Some of which I can't even find on Myspace.
Ok, if a band isn't on Myspace its because they're just lazy.
Title: Re: Seriously, Last.fm, knock it off.
Post by: MobyDickhole on 12 Dec 2007, 19:58
*Ahem.* (http://www.pandora.com)

Yes.

I was going to post Pandora as well. It's probably the greatest fucking thing ever to happen to the internet. I have a few REALLY good stations set up that never fuck up. like EVER. Ever Song is awesome and usually unknown to me.

Also, I suggest  SomaFM (http://somafm.com/play/indiepop) if you don't already listen to it religiously.
Best radio station ever.