The Poor Man's Soundtrack

[ladyseishou]

For those of us who like more variety than mainstream radio but too cheap to buy mp3s. :P

- Member on NaNoWriMo forum, recommending internet radio service Pandora.com



Recommendations for Nano Writers with light wallets...

Perhaps the two best known internet based music services are:

Pandora.com

From NaNoWriMo Soundtrack forum:

"Pandora is fantastic. I've actually never found a site before that had a such a varying collection of Goth and JRock artists."

"I adore this website. I discovered it during last JulNo, and it pretty much saved my life."

From wikipedia:

• Pandora is an automated music recommendation and Internet radio service created by the Music Genome Project. Users enter a song or artist that they enjoy, and the service responds by playing selections that are musically similar. Users provide feedback on approval or disapproval of individual songs, which Pandora takes into account for future selections.
  
  
• Over 400 different musical attributes are considered when selecting the next song. These 400 attributes are combined into larger groups called focus traits. There are 2,000 focus traits. Examples of these are rhythm syncopation, key tonality, vocal harmonies and displayed instrumental proficiency.
  
  
• The service has two subscription plans: a free subscription supported by advertisements (limited to 40 hours per month) and a fee-based subscription without ads.
  
  
• Because of recent Copyright Royalty Board rulings that increase fees and ask for licensing guarantees, the Pandora service is no longer available in countries other than the United States.
  

Last.fm

From NaNoWriMo Soundtrack forum:

"Last.fm is perfect for NaNo. I in particular like to listen to a lot of dub while writing, even if it's got nothing to do with the mood of the story, it's great for relaxing and letting the mind go."

"I freaking love last.fm so much."


From wikipedia:

• Last.fm is a UK-based Internet radio and music community website, founded in 2002. It claims over 30 million active users based in more than 200 countries. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for £140m ($280m USD).
  
  
• Using a music recommender system called "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user's musical taste by recording details of all the songs the user listens to, either on the streamed radio stations, the user's computer or many portable music devices. This information is transferred to Last.fm's database ("scrobbled") via a plugin installed into the user's music player. The profile data is then displayed on the user's profile page. The site offers numerous social networking features and can recommend and play artists similar to the user's favourites.
  
  
• Users can create custom radio stations and playlists from any of the audio tracks in Last.fm's music library, and are able to listen to some individual tracks on demand, or download tracks if the rights holder has previously authorised it.
  
  
• The free user account includes access to several features: Profiles, Recommendations, Groups and Events. Registered Users are also able to post in the Last.fm forums, send and receive private messages and use the Last.fm client music player. For users living outside the UK, US and Germany, the radio service will require a subscription for €3.00 per month after a 30 track free trial.
  

Note: there is a Last.fm group for the 2008 NaNoWriMo - NaNoWriMo @ Last.fm


So Nano Writers, what do you tune into when the wallet is feeling a little light? Anybody have a favorite Live365 station they listen to while writing? Tell us all about it in the comments below!

Comments

[leavesofgrass]

Pandora is geolocked :(

"We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for listeners located outside of the U.S."

[ladyseishou]

Yes, that's unfortunately true - copyright issues :( Have you had any luck with Last.fm? The service is suppose to be subscription free outside of the UK, US and Germany.