Want new music?

Well, it seems that there are more and more music social network sites popping up on the Internet. As mentioned in a previous blog, Last.fm and Pandora are front runners when it comes to personalizing radio stations and finding new songs. But there certainly are others, and the number of people using these sites is constantly growing. Take for instance these three online music communities: MOG, URGE, and iLike. Of these, what most intrigues me is MOG.

A social music community dedicated to music lovers who mainly listen to their music on their computer or iPod, MOG is similar to Last.fm in that it displays what each user is listening to. What is cool about the MOG technology is that it updates music stats in real time without the listener/user having to do anything. It keeps track of how many times each song is played in iTunes, or almost any other media player. This might be a little unnerving and creepy, but these days it is second nature to realize that we are constantly being watched by someone. Plus, the user makes a choice to display these personal music-listening habits. The benefits of this are for other people, as they can begin to grasp who each user is in a musical sense and possibly sample new artists they have never heard of.

MOG also utilizes blogging. This is where it gets cool, because it allows for audio and video embedding. So if a person is blogging about a certain song or artist or music video, it is possible to embed the actual subject for all readers to view/listen. This aspect of the network interests me the most because it lets people really divulge to others their personal feelings about music, whether it be in general or for a certain song or artist. There are many "celebrity" artists that are members of MOG, and when I say celebrity I mean recognized artists. For instance, Matthew Caws, a personal hero, has a profile on MOG. The singer and guitarist for Nada Surf, he regularly updates his profile with blog posts and makes the music he is currently listening to visible (and listenable) to other users . This is really interesting, in my opinion, because it lets one see what their favorite artist is listening to and drawing inspiration from. It builds a closer connection with artists and fans than just the music. While assuredly some people think of music only as background noise to their life, there are those of us who want to learn more about the artists and become connected on a more personal level. MOG makes this possible while enhancing and broadening users' musical palettes.

Another site, Urge.com, is somewhat similar. Started by MTV Networks (a division of Viacom International Inc.), Urge enables users to create profiles and playlists, like MOG. There are 35 preset radio stations (included in the "free" package; 150 stations are available in the other paid subscription packages) to choose from, different from MOG (MOG's radio stations are personalized and not preset). However, Urge offers the option to download music. There are three models from which a person can choose: The free set-up, where the basics of the site can be had and music tracks can be downloaded for 99 cents; The Urge "All Access" option at $9.95/month or $99/year that allows for free, unlimited downloading but does not allow that subscribed music to be transferred to an MP3 device; And the "All Access To Go" option at $14.95/month or $149/year, with the main benefit of allowing the transfer of downloaded songs to be transferred to portable MP3 devices. That is cool! Considering the amount of money people spend on new music, assuming that there are SOME people that still buy music, that could equate to 10 or 15 new CDs (vinyl, cassettes, online tracks/albums, what have you). Considering that that amount of money spent ($149) would render only roughly 100-150 songs, this option is pretty attractive. On the other hand, one could just download for free. Illegally. The whole lure of this is the legal aspect, I think. People who are afraid that the big bad RIAA will sue them for illegally downloading music will probably like this, among other services like Napster, but I feel that a majority of the online-music-downloading population will turn their cheek(s) to this. Not only because it is run by MTV, but because of other reasons such as the music library. What good is an affordable download service if the tracks you want aren't available? It doesn't specify on the website how many songs are available other than "millions." That may seem like a large number but is a relatively small chunk of the recorded music that exists today. Another downside is that the provided radio stations are "Professionally Programmed," not user generated. Does that sound like fun? Take a look, or a listen, rather, at radio today and tell me that that is a smart move. Then again, there are still many, many people who enjoy radio just how it is, so perhaps this is a smart move by the suits at MTV.

I've got one more online social music community for you, and it is called iLike. According to iLike,

"The iLike service is designed to help consumers discover and share music together. A key part of the service is the "music by new artists". Most music lovers are eager to hear new music by new artists - radio has become boring, and the Internet is where people are going to find new music."

I especially like the part about radio being boring! Jokes aside, this service is special because of its emphasis on new music. Honestly it is not much different than MOG or Last.fm, just another way to discover music through friends and other users' playlists, with an easier outlet for upcoming artists to get their music heard. But it is another option! And people love variety! Check it out.

So, are the days of listening to radio and going to the record store to find new music over? Not completely. People still listen to radio and discover new music, people still go to the record store to randomly chance upon something new, and people still listen to radio and then go to the record store to purchase said new music. However, it is hardly debatable anymore that there has been a paradigm shift, that is still in transition, to the Internet. Thanks, mostly to my generation, for upsetting the means of doing music business throughout the last century! No longer can record companies and radio programmers (consolidators) rely on traditional methods to generate revenue and make people happy. It is a time of creation, so let's start thinking!