Last.fm gets a facelift

Web 2.0 music pioneer Last.fm has relaunched with a new look and dropped its "Beta" disclaimer. The new version of the site features a clean look, and a focus that would seem to put rival Pandora directly in its sites. They've even started promoting a new word, "scrobbling", to describe the process of listening to your music collection with tools that allow Last.fm to learn your preferences and thus make suggestions.

Last.fm combines social networking with music to give listeners a Web 2.0 way to find new music they are likely to enjoy. Last.fm's method stands in stark contrast to competitor Pandora, which uses a complex set of characteristics and a closed categorization system to make recommendations based on music you are already familiar with.

Users of Last.fm install a special plug-in to their media player of choice (a wide range of plug-ins exist for all types of media players that support 3rd party add-ons) which uploads non-anonymous information on what they listen to. Using your actual day-to-day listening choices, Last.fm is able to identify other artists you may be interested in.

Tags: audioscrobbler, find music, FindMusic, last.fm, music selection services, music taste services, MusicSelectionServices, MusicTasteServices, pandora