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A new service is available from Google Talk, and it blows my chances completing a Google-free week. Well, technically, I still haven’t done any Google searches though, so maybe I can still make it.
A few weeks ago, Google gave Google talk users the option of displaying “What’s Playing” as their personal message. This week, Google rolls out Music Trends, a window into the world of what people are listening.
This seems to be an interesting experiment in some form of social networking. While Yahoo Music allows you to see other user’s recommendations, this seems to mainly be a top 30 list for what’s playing in any respective genre. The default genre is Alternative – World, which set me up for feeling really old when I didn’t recognize any of the bands or titles.
I found the way to switch Genres and also to switch to Unites States only. This didn’t help me in the Alternative Category, but it did make much more sense in the rock, classic rock and punk genres.
Some of the classifications make me wonder, however. Seeing Michael Jackson’s Thriller listed under Blues, Cutting Crew listed under Classic Rock . . . something’s not right. Then, it dawns on me. There seems to be many mistakes and confusion in the file-trading services, not that I would ever use one. But I have seen that many genres and artist-songs do not match on those services, which makes me wonder about the extent of file trading and the impact on music trends, such as this.
The occasional misclassification aside, This is a fairly limited look into some long-tail studies. The list by genre simply whets the appetite. I’d really like the option to be able to see a longer list or dig into sub-genres.
Getting into a few of the genres I was comfortable with (what? No 80’s New Wave?) I felt a little more relaxed, and I accepted the inevitable of getting older. The Classic Rock category was much more to my liking – not many surprises there, FreeBird is #2.
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
Okay, I can see how you could probably start to feel old by not knowing what bands are out there. But even the kids have to keep up on it all the time. No, it’s not you.
What we do is cruise the internet, especially MySpace.com. All of the bands are there now. Just go there and look. You should get to listen immediately to some of their songs right there.
As a guitar player, I am doing this about an hour a week. But I warn you. There is a lot of crap to wade through. Once in a while you will find something great.
Lately I’ve found that in Modesto, California there is a cool little scene happening there. And I’ve been listening to The Ivy Lines, Solar Powered People, and The Newlyweds. All are very cool, too.
But what I’ve found more interesting is that a mod-like scene is developing that mimicks England’s 70’s and 90’s. The Ivy Lines will fall into that catagory.
As for Google, we all know that Google is just a dum robotic system that only reacts to what comes up most. The “silent ones” that hide their names and run Google are just as dum. Rich, yes. Artistically talented? Whatever.
Comment by Nigel Tufnel | August 18, 2006 @ 10:48 pm
Thanks for the update, Nigel ;). I think part of me wishes I had this back in the 80’s rather than Lost in Space re-runs.
I have, on occasion, stumbled onto some bands on MySpace (though I don’t have the hours to put into it), which is how I found WolfMother - probably one of my favorite albums right now, right up there with Smell the Glove.
Comment by Matt Bailey | August 18, 2006 @ 10:58 pm