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missroserose...and really, is there such a thing as a person who doesn't love music? It seems to be one of the ingrained aspects of being human, although what constitutes "music" can vary wildly from culture to culture. Still, I don't think there's been a single culture throughout history that hasn't taken advantage of the ability to at least bang a couple of coconut shells together in time to some sort of chant.
Anthropological and humanistic concerns aside, however, one of the conundrums of any music fan is trying to find "more of the same" when it comes to a type of music they particularly like. Genres were originally invented for this purpose, but music can vary widely enough within a genre (and can contain aspects of so many genres) that they're of limited help. Generally, the main avenues open to any music fan in finding more music that they like are to listen to the radio (which, these days, seems less and less viable) and to ask other people.
Now, however, several brave souls have given us Pandora, an offshoot of the commendable Music Genome Project. Type in a song or a band that you enjoy, and the program goes through and finds songs that sound similar. Even more nifty, it's customizable - you can tell the program that you like or don't like a particular song, and it will come up with more (or fewer) songs of that type. (I especially like the idea of the "I'm tired of this song - don't play it for a month" button - now if only actual radio stations had something like that. =)
Go forth, my friends, and discover new music.
Anthropological and humanistic concerns aside, however, one of the conundrums of any music fan is trying to find "more of the same" when it comes to a type of music they particularly like. Genres were originally invented for this purpose, but music can vary widely enough within a genre (and can contain aspects of so many genres) that they're of limited help. Generally, the main avenues open to any music fan in finding more music that they like are to listen to the radio (which, these days, seems less and less viable) and to ask other people.
Now, however, several brave souls have given us Pandora, an offshoot of the commendable Music Genome Project. Type in a song or a band that you enjoy, and the program goes through and finds songs that sound similar. Even more nifty, it's customizable - you can tell the program that you like or don't like a particular song, and it will come up with more (or fewer) songs of that type. (I especially like the idea of the "I'm tired of this song - don't play it for a month" button - now if only actual radio stations had something like that. =)
Go forth, my friends, and discover new music.
