Music Streaming and Sharing- Thing 17

I waited to do this thing until I had at least 2 hours of time by myself because I love music. I wanted to really explore this thing thoroughly. I already had an account with Last.fm, but I hadn't used it much. One of my friends had encouraged me to sign up, so I did. I only used it for a couple of days, so I had actually forgotten my password when I recently revisited it and had to reset it. When I did get into the site, I remembered why I had stopped using it. I searched for a song that I wanted to listen to and there was no obvious link to just play the song all the way through. I could play the artist's radio station, look at the bio and discography of the artist, download the song (for a fee), save the song (still couldn't play it), share the song, bookmark the song, add it to my library, or listen to a sample of the song. I did quite a bit of clicking around until I finally just went to the "Radio" area of the site. I did like this feature. You can choose an artist and listen to a station that will continually play songs that are similar to that artist. Last.fm also gives you the option of choosing 3 artists, then they play they think you will like based on those 3 choices. This option worked very well for me as I enjoyed all of the songs that were played on this station. They also show a variety of photographs of the artist as the song is playing- almost as nice as watching a music video. I noticed a link to "recommendations" based on my favorites, searches, and saved songs. I clicked on it, and I was pleased to find a radio station that played music "just for me". I did like most of the songs that were played. I found one that I marked as "love" and shared it with my husband. He does not have a Last.fm account, so I was interested to find out what it was like on his end. When he opened the email and clicked on the shared song, I was disappointed to see that it took him to the place I was at before I went to "Radio". There was no obvious link that played the whole song- just the artist bio, discography, sample, and option to download for a fee.

Incidentally, I had the same experience on Pandora when I shared a song with him. I was surprised because I found Pandora to be more user-friendly and intuitive in terms of how to find what you need. This was my first time to use Pandora, and at first, I thought I would like it better than Last.fm. It guided me through the sign up and it was much easier for me to navigate. However, I did find that I couldn't search by individual song title. I created a few radio stations based on some artists that I like. Last.fm allows you to choose up to 3, but I was only able to choose one artist per station on Pandora. The main thing I didn't like about Pandora (and the reason I will probably use Last.fm over it in the future) is that the radio stations stopped after about 3 or 4 songs for a long time before playing another song. At first, I thought it had something to do with my computer, but then a message appeared on the screen that said, "Sorry about the wait. It is taking us more time to pick the next song than we thought" or something to that effect. Well, I used to be in radio, and one of the first things I was taught in broadcasting school is that dead air is absolutely forbidden. Additionally, when I am listening to radio, I don't want any pregnant pauses- I want continuous music. Another advantage to Last.fm is that they show the images of the artist as the song is playing. When I shared a song from Pandora with my husband, it was the same as when I sent him a song from Last.fm. So, I don't know if I just am not sharing music properly, or if he has to register to hear the entire song.... or ?

I should mention, too, that I have listened to radio stations on the Internet in the past. I have a subscription to Sirius satellite radio, and I sometimes listen to the stations on the computer. I love it- especially when I am doing housework. I may try one of my Last.fm stations next time (not Pandora, though- too much dead air!). I have also used Yahoo Launch to watch music videos. It works in the same way as Last.fm in that when you watch a video, it plays more videos based on that selection. So much fun! Yes, there are ads, but it's usually just one short one here and there- nothing like the 10 minute commercial blocks on FM radio and television.

As far as how this technology can be used in libraries- I do think CDs are perhaps on the "out", but I'm not sure how music streaming and sharing will be used in libraries. Maybe in the future our catalogs will also offer patrons a chance to listen to music. The OPAC will be so much more than what it is now- it will allow customers to create their own stations. Imagine customers spending hours on the OPAC listening to music! I do think there are a lot of people who still want to "own" in addition to simply listening to it. Maybe CDs won't be necessary for that as there are MP3s and such now. They do take up quite a lot of space. But, I still listen to them in my car which is a 2006. Do new cars have CD players in them? I'm not sure- but that also makes a difference to customers- especially in an area like DFW where there are a lot of commuters. It will be fascinating to see what transpires in this realm in the next ten years!