I've created a radio station

Like dozens (hundreds, maybe?) of other music lovers each day, I have discovered Audioscrobbler.com and its partner service, Last.fm.

It's a revolutionary concept, in my opinion. Up until now, the music industry has "pushed" music at me, the listener, hoping to match their library to my tastes. And I've had to pay for it, either at the record store, or through legal streaming and downloading services like Rhapsody or the new Napster.

On the other hand, the software that powers Audioscrobbler and Last.fm learns its users' musical tastes and can then play a personalized radio program to each listener. Better yet, you can tap into other users' actual playlists or their relationship-modeled "radio" program. It's free for the user, and the service is paying for the royalties, so it's all legal.

If you want to hear a radio feed of my "profiled" musical tastes, click the button in my "Music" sidebar over there. Go ahead, try it. (The model that generates a playlist isn't absolutely perfect, so don't send me comments asking, "Greg, do you really like MC Hammer?" Just because a song shows up on my Last.fm radio station, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's a favorite of mine. It just means there's a probability that it's something I might like.)

UPDATE -- UPDATE -- UPDATE
August 10, 2005

Last.fm and Audioscrobbler have re-released their software and sites. It looks like they're even more stylish and functional now, but on the other hand, our radio link is no longer working. Eventually, I'll be looking into this and trying to correct the problem. I don't think anybody was listening to my radio profile, anyway.