last.fm

If, like me, you love being recommended new music, last.fm is just what you need. It’s also brilliant if you’re a bit of a stats fanatic, and want to see a range of facts and figures about your listening habits.

The last.fm application that you download is a web radio with a difference. Instead of listening to a track list selected by an unknown DJ, you simply enter in an artist’s name, and last.fm plays a bunch of tracks by similar artists, as well as a few by the artist you searched for. If you don’t know which artist you want, you can instead choose to just type in a word or two to describe the type of music you want to listen to (e.g. happy, laid back, rock, rap), and last.fm will churn out tracks that match your description.

The statistics taking part of last.fm is equally interesting (If like me, you too are a stats nerd). When you listen to a track for 50% of its duration, it is “scrobbled” to your profile, and is available for all to see. (So be careful how often you play your much-loved Backstreet Boys track!) You can see your most played artists and tracks over a week, 3 month, 6 month, 12 month or lifetime period, as well as your entire listening history.

(Note: last.fm does require the creation of an account, although this is a simple process, and you can opt out of the occasional email they send your way.)

Last.fm home page. (The sign up link is in the top right)
Download Page