Music to my ears...

Status: 100% perk!!! (zombie is on holiday)

Anybody that knows me well knows that I am completely music obsessed. I have music playing as much as possible. I don't watch television, and I rarely watch movies because that would mean turning off the music!

So this week's "assignment" was really completed long before it got started.

It just so happens that I already have accounts with LastFM and MOG. I also listen to streaming radio from time to time, primarily KEXP or BCB radio. WFMU also comes highly recommended, though I have yet to give it a try (too many good choices!)

As you can imagine then, I'm a big fan of online music listening of one sort or another. I'll just kind of run through my experience with the various things I've mentioned, and a couple of others, too.

MOG

Music is social - no question about it. I was introduced to MOG over a year ago, and used to spend a fair bit of time there. It is essentially a blog with a music focus. People write about their favorite artists or songs, shows they've been to, post videos, and sometimes even share the more hideous things they come across out there (believe you me, there is some REALLY SCARY music available in the world). I quickly met a lot of nice people with similar interests, including a friend that I now go to shows with from time to time who happened to go to high school with on of my college roommates - small world! In fact, some of the people that I met on MOG have essentially become my online community - the friends I choose to spend my time with online and in person, when possible. MOG opened up the world to me - and let's face it - Oak Harbor is not exactly a hotbed of music and other culture. I've been introduced to a lot of great music through the posts I've read on MOG.

MOG does have a few drawbacks, however - enough to cause quite a few of us to venture elsewhere to a top-secret, undisclosed location for our online socializing. See that cute, fluffy little bunny up there? That's Schloopy. Schloopy is THE MOST HATED fluffy bunny in the world - because when Schloopy arrives, it means MOG is down. For whatever reason, MOG seems to have technical difficulties more often than other sites. It can be very frustrating to create a post then have it just disappear into the ether. I think MOG has troubles with growing pains, so every time there is a big influx of people the site crashes. They also recently changed the music listening aspect, and for full listening you are required to have a subscription to...ha! I forget which service. The MOG-O-MATIC software which keeps track of the music in your personal library and what you've listened too sucks up a lot of computer resources. If you have a large music library, it cause all sorts of problems. I just occassionally download it for a couple of days to update everything, then get rid of it.

Overall opinion - MOG can be a great place to discover new music, but there will be a few bumps along the way.

LastFM

I'll admit - I like LastFM not so much for the streaming capabilities and social aspects, but because I am a statistics geek. That's right - I just like to know which artists I've listened to the most, how many times per week, and the overall listen count since I joined. Very geeky, yes?

I can write blog posts there if I want, but don't find it at all necessary. Noooo - I just want to know

HOW MANY HOW OFTEN HOW MUCH!

It's really pretty cool - and then I can add widgets here and there to share my geekery~~ see my widget over there to the right!


STREAMING RADIO


KEXP is the king when it comes to streaming radio. They have been at it for a long time, and have it down. They run a real-time playlist, which is archived so you can track down songs you may have heard in your car while out and about. They also archive all shows for two weeks, so if you miss your favorite you can go back and listen later. I usually just listen on the computer at home on Friday nights for my favorite show - Shake the Shack. Nothing like some rockabilly to start your weekend!

So there you have it. Online music - I'm a fan!