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by verelo 20 days ago
Came here to say the same. I don't even know what this product is anymore. The website makes it sound like its about music but there is no music? I'm lost.

The last time I paid for LastFM was some time in 2009...but the home page just isn't clearly telling me what the service offers.
2 comments
SyneRyder 20 days ago
Among the people I know still using Last.FM, it's somewhere between having statistics about your music, and a recommendation engine. It isn't about playing the music, you can do that elsewhere. But by having data on every single piece of music you've listened to, it can recommend music you will like, and potentially recommend people with shared musical tastes as well. There's a feature to compare your musical compatibility with others.

For me, many years ago Last.FM recommended this weird electronic band that I'd never heard of, with the strange name "Boards Of Canada". That Last.FM recommendation was responsible for introducing me to my 2nd most listened to band of all time (just behind NIN). 2026 is many hexagons, dandelions and an inferno later.

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iv11 19 days ago
Are you ironic when you say you never heard of "Boards of Canada"?
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SyneRyder 19 days ago
I hadn't back around 2008 when Last.FM made the recommendation, nor do I think I'd made the connection with Film Boards Of Canada even though we watched those films in my primary school years during class time.
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heldrida 20 days ago
Originally, it kind of worked like radio; it curated music for you, you could like, comment or skip tracks. It'd reinforce the algorithm, and you'd start finding great artists. I liked the Blues catalogue a lot, even though I was listening to reggae, ska, punk, etc. It just seemed they had the best music catalogue. I remember checking how big the catalogue was, comparatively with others, which was much smaller, but much, much better!

Today, we have Generative AI, generating an incomprehensible number of songs that no one will ever listen to.

I don't remember if I had to pay for Last.fm or not back then, but I'd definitely pay to have access to that old system.

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