Last.fm

Wikipedia writes of Last.fm:
Last.fm is a UK-based Internet radio and music community website, founded in 2002. It claims over 21 million active users based in more than 200 countries.[1] On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for £140m ($280m USD).[2]

Using a music recommendation 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 or on the user's computer or some 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. Registration is required to acquire a profile but is not necessary to view any part of the site or to listen to radio stations.

After hearing much about this Web 2.0 music site, I finally explored the site and set up an account. I was actually much more impressed than I thought I would be. You can build up an extensive music library and listen to your self-created library radio stations. As you add artists to your library, you can add tags to that artist or band. Also, there are constant recommendation links that pop up at the bottom of the screen. For each artist, you can view news, photos, videos, play counts, and short biographies.