I recently came across a website that we should all come to love and appreciate in time. AudioMap, is a fairly simple concept: take one band and find out what bands are similar to it. Without much shine or flashes, TuneGlue does this very well. Simply type one band into the list at the top of the page, hit enter, and their name will appear center screen. Then click on the band “Node” and hit “Expand.” Here, up to 11 other bands will appear that have a similar sound. This process can be repeated ad finitum. From each band, “Expand” is the primary option, yet there is also a “Releases” option that brings up a window with their 10 most recent, get this, releases, and a link to the Amazon.com site.
Now, how the connections are made is beyond me. The methods used are unknown, though it does claim to be run by LastFM and Amazon. I have been fairly content with the answers provided and even garnered some new bands (Pit Er Pat – review coming shortly). I do believe, after much tinkering, that the suggestions are based on assumed likings, not necessarily similar musical leanings. However, I am very OK with their assumptions.
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I remember when Pandora used to do this with their Music Genome Project. It didn’t have all of the options to purchase, like this site does with Amazon, but it allowed you to listen to each band you navigated to. I couldn’t find a way to sample here, which is really the most valuable piece of the music discovery equation. If you find a band you haven’t heard of, I assume you need to visit another site to hear a some song clips?
If I hear of a band I like, I just go to myspace to listen to them. Its free and you get to hear on average four songs.
I checked out this sight and I liked it much better than Pandora.
You must have never seen the old pandora. It’s exactly the same. Pandora changed their model to the radio player you see now.
Yeah, I did not ever get a chance to see the old Pandora. A player would be nice, as well, even 30 seconds or so often times sells me on a band. I do think its really fun to drag the bands around and see everything react. I’m easily entertained though.