Topic: Last.fm (Read 9056 times)

benn600 · « **on:** March 05, 2007, 01:35:19 pm »

What exactly is last.fm? I know it basically tracks what you listen to and everything else about you but what does it actually allow users to accomplish? Find new music? How well does it work with MC?

thanks

runemail · « **Reply #1 on:** March 05, 2007, 03:30:27 pm »

It also have a social networking side to it, use it with your friends and find new "friends" that share the same taste in music(or not).

They also have a pretty good gig guide, where you can find people going to the same concerts, when your favorite bands play, etc.

But the main thing is the music of course, great for finding new and fresh bands. I have found the best way is to go to a page of a band you like and check the related bands area on the left side. And also check out the top fans section to see what their top fans listen to.
Also they asign you "neighbors" that share your taste in music, check out their profiles and discover music you are likely to like.

Most bands also have a simple wiki. And there are some interesting debates going on in the various groups.

Last.fm works well with MC, MC submits tracks, but you really need to go to the website to "use" last.fm. there is no interaction with Last.fm in the current plugin.

By tagging music you can also create custom radio stations with your favorite music. (Subscribers only).

The best way to learn about last.fm is of course to use it, its free, so why not.

InflatableMouse · « **Reply #2 on:** March 06, 2007, 01:08:23 am »

To me its just fun to track what I'm lsitening to. It has groups with forums you can join with people you have something in common, be it musical taste or something else. I've met some really nice people there and the best new music in my collection I learned about from them.

The last.fm plugin for MC works transparently but I noticed not all played tracks are recorded. I didn't have this with Linux. It has an option to resubmit failed submissions but that option doesn't stay enabled.

It can be fun, it's free so just try it I would say

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #3 on:** March 06, 2007, 02:53:52 am »

Quote from: InflatableMouse on March 06, 2007, 01:08:23 am

The last.fm plugin for MC works transparently but I noticed not all played tracks are recorded. I didn't have this with Linux. It has an option to resubmit failed submissions but that option doesn't stay enabled.

That bug has been fixed and submitted to J River. You can work around this for the moment by changing:

ReattemptFailed=False

To:

ReattemptFailed=True

In your Settings.INI file which resides in <Documents And Settings>\<Username>\Application Data\J River\last.fm

InflatableMouse · « **Reply #4 on:** March 06, 2007, 05:18:06 am »

Quote from: RhinoBanga on March 06, 2007, 02:53:52 am

That bug has been fixed and submitted to J River. You can work around this for the moment by changing:

ReattemptFailed=False

To:

ReattemptFailed=True

In your Settings.INI file which resides in <Documents And Settings>\<Username>\Application Data\J River\last.fm

Ah cool! Thanks for that.

Raphoune · « **Reply #5 on:** March 06, 2007, 07:03:47 am »

I was just wondering something about iPod and Last.fm :

Are my iPod play counts automatically imported in Media Center ? Is the track list submitted by the last.fm plugin updated with the tracks played on my iPod ?

Maybe the final answer is "yes", and then there's no problem...

In case the final answer is "no", there is a software (iSproggler) that updates your last.fm account with your iPod play counts. But I was thinking that if Media Center resets the iPod play counts after sync, iScrobbler simply won't have anything to submit... Any idea about how it eventually works ?...

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #6 on:** March 06, 2007, 04:15:00 pm »

I am waiting for J River to comment on how the handheld subsystem can interact (hey ... a pun!) with the last.fm plugin so it can register what you have played. It's something I personally would like myself as I use my 80GB iPod every day.

lOth · « **Reply #7 on:** March 06, 2007, 05:15:50 pm »

Rhino: I would love to finally see this implemented.

The current workaround is to use not isproggler (this is an iTunes plug-in! yuck...) but audiopod. Use audiopod to send your ipod playstats to last.fm, then sync your iPod with MC to update MC's playstats and reinitialize the iPod playstats (MC must be set up to import playcounts from the iPod on connect).

This is a less than ideal situation, I lost a lot of iPod playstats because I sometime forget that MC is running in the background and plug-in my iPod. I think that the best solution would be for MC to simply(?) add the songs to the submission queue of the last.fm plug-in at the same time it gets the playstats from the iPod.

Raphoune · « **Reply #8 on:** March 07, 2007, 04:30:35 am »

Thanks for the tip !

InflatableMouse · « **Reply #9 on:** March 07, 2007, 10:32:40 am »

Interesting.

Does any of these proggies work with other mp3 players like my Cowon iAudio U3?

lOth · « **Reply #10 on:** March 07, 2007, 04:43:50 pm »

I don't think so, but you wouldn't need one if MC could do this for you (in the way I described above).

InflatableMouse · « **Reply #11 on:** March 08, 2007, 01:02:24 am »

Wait I just reread the thread I think I am missing something here. MC with the last.fm plugin isn't uploading what I am playing on my mp3 player is it? That's why the guys with ipods use a 3rd party tool to do so?

lOth · « **Reply #12 on:** March 08, 2007, 01:19:24 pm »

exactly. Even though MC can synchronize its own playstats with that of a portable player it only upload to last.fm what's played through MC's own player.

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #13 on:** March 09, 2007, 04:20:34 am »

Does anyone know what playback information is given by the iPod?

Is it a linear/historical list of track name and play date, e.g.:

track1 - 09/March/2007 - 10:10
track2 - 09/March/2007 - 10:12
track3 - 09/March/2007 - 10:16
track1 - 09/March/2007 - 10:20

Or is it a track based list, e.g.:

track1 - NumPlays=2, LastPlayed=09/March/2007 - 10:20
track2 - NumPlays=1, LastPlayed=09/March/2007 - 10:12
track3 - NumPlays=1, LastPlayed=09/March/2007 - 10:16

If it's the latter (which saves space) then we're a bit stuffed as last.fm requires a valid date/time for each submission and given the example above you will notice that we've lost the 10:10 record. Hopefully it's the former.

As a quick test can someone who is using a 3rd party tool confirm what happens when you play the same track more than once, i.e. do you get more than one submission with the correct date/time.

Raphoune · « **Reply #14 on:** March 09, 2007, 04:30:05 am »

Quote from: RhinoBanga on March 09, 2007, 04:20:34 am

If it's the latter (which saves space) then we're a bit stuffed as last.fm requires a valid date/time for each submission and given the example above you will notice that we've lost the 10:10 record. Hopefully it's the former.

Does last.fm really need to know how many times you listened to a track ? Or simply what you listen to ? Are the suggestions he gives you based on the quantity ? IF not, maybe having only the "last played" info is enough... The information would just be a little less accurate, but it could be a good start..

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #15 on:** March 09, 2007, 04:57:26 am »

Quote

Does last.fm really need to know how many times you listened to a track ?

Yes, because then it can rank your most popular artists, etc.

winniew · « **Reply #16 on:** March 09, 2007, 12:22:39 pm »

Quote from: RhinoBanga on March 09, 2007, 04:20:34 am

As a quick test can someone who is using a 3rd party tool confirm what happens when you play the same track more than once, i.e. do you get more than one submission with the correct date/time.

I just tried this with "Audiopod_goes_iscrobbler-v0.7b".
It does not work, only the last Play-time of the (double played) track is submitted.

Another problem will be, that they have a sort of spam-protection.
When I submit a track just played with MC and later want to submit tracks played on the Ipod (before),
then this gives a spam-protection error and they don't take over the submitted tracks.

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #17 on:** March 10, 2007, 03:13:22 am »

Thanks for doing the test.

I suspected it would be something like that and to be honest it makes the whole thing a bit pointless since you are not going to get an true reflection of your listening habits. It's not last.fm's fault of course, just the way the iPod has been designed to save space. I suppose a workaround would be to register the same track multiple times using pseudo-generated dates but it would still mean that questions like "what did I listen to in the past week" would be inaccurate.

Raphoune · « **Reply #18 on:** March 11, 2007, 04:53:56 pm »

This time it looks like it's not an iPod problem, but a last.fm design choice to avoid spam, like winniew said. The reason is explained in the Wikipedia page about last.fm.
The last.fm recommandation systems considers that you like an artist if you listen to many of his songs. But if you always listen to the same track, the artist won't be one of your top ones. That makes the personnal recommandation less accurate (but still very efficient), but it's good news for our MC submission problem

0239666 · « **Reply #19 on:** March 11, 2007, 06:38:34 pm »

Quote from: RhinoBanga on March 06, 2007, 02:53:52 am

That bug has been fixed and submitted to J River. You can work around this for the moment by changing:

ReattemptFailed=False

To:

ReattemptFailed=True

In your Settings.INI file which resides in <Documents And Settings>\<Username>\Application Data\J River\last.fm

I cant find this file? I downloaded the plug in from the last.fm site. Should I have this file??

InflatableMouse · « **Reply #20 on:** March 12, 2007, 07:03:16 am »

Quote from: 0239666 on March 11, 2007, 06:38:34 pm

I cant find this file? I downloaded the plug in from the last.fm site. Should I have this file??

If you have installed the plugin, yes. YOu can check its properly installed in MC12 under services (from the top of my head), there should be an entry last.fm.

You can also check under plugin manager.

If it is installed, you should have the .ini file. If you can't find it, right click the Documents and settings folder and choose search. Type in the filename and hit enter.

Unless you are using Vista?

0239666 · « **Reply #21 on:** March 12, 2007, 01:24:11 pm »

I only installed the Audioscrobbler plug in. Is there something else I should install?

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #22 on:** March 13, 2007, 04:13:45 am »

Quote from: Raphoune on March 11, 2007, 04:53:56 pm

This time it looks like it's not an iPod problem, but a last.fm design choice to avoid spam, like winniew said. The reason is explained in the Wikipedia page about last.fm.
The last.fm recommandation systems considers that you like an artist if you listen to many of his songs. But if you always listen to the same track, the artist won't be one of your top ones. That makes the personnal recommandation less accurate (but still very efficient), but it's good news for our MC submission problem

I listen to a lot of Mike Oldfield and his tracks are often 30 minutes long, or more. I only sync my iPod around once a month yet in that time I may listen to Ommadawn 4 times, i.e. once a week, which contains two tracks of around 30 minutes.

As it stands MO would not be identified as a top artist and the tracks would only be registered as playing once. That's not exactly indicative of my listening habits.

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #23 on:** March 13, 2007, 04:29:53 am »

Quote from: 0239666 on March 12, 2007, 01:24:11 pm

I only installed the Audioscrobbler plug in. Is there something else I should install?

The audioscrobbler plugin and JR's last.fm one are two entirely different plugins. Which one did you install?

0239666 · « **Reply #24 on:** March 13, 2007, 11:23:36 am »

I am using the Audioscrobbler plug-in. Where can I get the JRiver last.fm plug -in???

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #25 on:** March 13, 2007, 01:17:59 pm »

Quote from: 0239666 on March 13, 2007, 11:23:36 am

I am using the Audioscrobbler plug-in. Where can I get the JRiver last.fm plug -in???

Here ... http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=36302.0

0239666 · « **Reply #26 on:** March 13, 2007, 01:27:49 pm »

I installed the last.fm plug-in the just there. But I logged in to last.fm on the net and none of the songs I listened to registered.

Heres some of the Status Log

13/03/2007 18:24:20.375 ( 204) > Waiting for something to do ...
13/03/2007 18:24:20.375 ( 203) > AS thread started
13/03/2007 18:24:20.375 ( 202) > AS thread starting
13/03/2007 18:24:20.375 ( 201) > Loaded 0 entries
13/03/2007 18:24:20.375 ( 200) > Loading queue from C:\Documents and Settings\Bobby Comber\Application Data\J River\last.fm\Queue.txt
13/03/2007 18:24:20.359 ( 199) > AS thread shutdown
13/03/2007 18:24:20.359 ( 198) > AS thread killed
13/03/2007 18:24:20.359 ( 197) > Saving queue to C:\Documents and Settings\Bobby Comber\Application Data\J River\last.fm\Queue.txt ... 0 entries
13/03/2007 18:24:20.359 ( 196) > Told to exit
13/03/2007 18:24:20.359 ( 195) > Wait status 0
13/03/2007 18:24:20.359 ( 194) > Shutting down AS thread
13/03/2007 17:47:45.328 ( 193) > Waiting for something to do ...
13/03/2007 17:47:45.328 ( 192) > Saving queue to C:\Documents and Settings\Bobby Comber\Application Data\J River\last.fm\Queue.txt ... 0 entries
13/03/2007 17:47:24.375 ( 191) > Sending http://87.117.229.205:80/protocol_1.1?u=0239666&s=51f8d9bcbdcd3984c9a68363ee1ec0e7&a[0]=Urban%20Intelligence&t[0]=Straight%20Spittin'&b[0]=Urban%20Intelligeince&m[0]=&l[0]=209&i[0]=2007-03-13 17:47:13&
13/03/2007 17:47:23.375 ( 190) > Sleeping 1 seconds
13/03/2007 17:47:23.375 ( 189) > Response: INTERVAL 1
13/03/2007 17:47:23.375 ( 188) > Response: http://87.117.229.205:80/protocol_1.1
13/03/2007 17:47:23.359 ( 187) > Response: 2871c76ed46eff41ceeef93583963ea3
13/03/2007 17:47:23.359 ( 186) > Response: UPTODATE
13/03/2007 17:47:13.562 ( 185) > Timeout
13/03/2007 17:47:13.546 ( 184) > Saving queue to C:\Documents and Settings\Bobby Comber\Application Data\J River\last.fm\Queue.txt ... 1 entries
13/03/2007 17:47:13.546 ( 183) > Added 1 entries to queue
13/03/2007 17:47:13.546 ( 182) > Wait status 1
13/03/2007 17:43:30.546 ( 181) > Waiting for something to do ...
13/03/2007 17:43:30.546 ( 180) > Saving queue to C:\Documents and Settings\Bobby Comber\Application Data\J River\last.fm\Queue.txt ... 0 entries
13/03/2007 17:43:09.593 ( 179) > Sending http://87.117.229.205:80/protocol_1.1?u=0239666&s=eccf40c6f45bdab9b1ede9ce1040d58b&a[0]=Cut%20Killer&t[0]=Affirmative%20Action%20-%20Nas&b[0]=Cut%20Killer%20Show&m[0]=&l[0]=209&i[0]=2007-03-13 17:41:30&
13/03/2007 17:43:08.593 ( 178) > Sleeping 1 seconds
13/03/2007 17:43:08.593 ( 177) > Response: INTERVAL 1
13/03/2007 17:43:08.593 ( 176) > Response: http://87.117.229.205:80/protocol_1.1
13/03/2007 17:43:08.593 ( 175) > Response: f76b762cb39ca7a447ea83abb7122416
13/03/2007 17:43:08.578 ( 174) > Response: UPTODATE
13/03/2007 17:43:07.921 ( 173) > Timeout
13/03/2007 17:43:07.921 ( 172) > Wait status 258
13/03/2007 17:42:37.921 ( 171) > Waiting for something to do ...
13/03/2007 17:42:37.921 ( 170) > Got error 12152 while trying to connect to:
13/03/2007 17:42:37.921 ( 170) >    http://post.audioscrobbler.com/?hs=true&p=1.1&c=jmo&v=0.1&u=0239666
13/03/2007 17:42:37.921 ( 170) >    Could not find error text for error 12152
13/03/2007 17:42:21.171 ( 169) > Timeout
13/03/2007 17:42:21.171 ( 168) > Wait status 258
13/03/2007 17:41:51.171 ( 167) > Waiting for something to do ...
13/03/2007 17:41:51.156 ( 166) > Got error 12002 while trying to connect to:
13/03/2007 17:41:51.156 ( 166) >    http://post.audioscrobbler.com/?hs=true&p=1.1&c=jmo&v=0.1&u=0239666
13/03/2007 17:41:51.156 ( 166) >    Timeout.
13/03/2007 17:41:30.296 ( 165) > Timeout
13/03/2007 17:41:30.296 ( 164) > Saving queue to C:\Documents and Settings\Bobby Comber\Application Data\J River\last.fm\Queue.txt ... 1 entries
13/03/2007 17:41:30.296 ( 163) > Added 1 entries to queue
13/03/2007 17:41:30.296 ( 162) > Wait status 1
13/03/2007 17:39:32.046 ( 161) > Waiting for something to do ...
13/03/2007 17:39:32.046 ( 160) > Saving queue to C:\Documents and Settings\Bobby Comber\Application Data\J River\last.fm\Queue.txt ... 0 entries
13/03/2007 17:39:11.140 ( 159) > Sending http://87.117.229.205:80/protocol_1.1?u=0239666&s=a8dc4acfd25e092d9c11acd5edec9fa1&a[0]=Cut%20Killer&t[0]=Ouf%20Dans%20Ma%20Tete%20-%20Sayd&b[0]=Cut%20Killer%20Show&m[0]=&l[0]=287&i[0]=2007-03-13 17:37:22&
13/03/2007 17:39:10.140 ( 158) > Sleeping 1 seconds
13/03/2007 17:39:10.140 ( 157) > Response: INTERVAL 1
13/03/2007 17:39:10.140 ( 156) > Response: http://87.117.229.205:80/protocol_1.1
13/03/2007 17:39:10.140 ( 155) > Response: cf83fcc84aff7930ba9386b8a79bccf5
13/03/2007 17:39:10.140 ( 154) > Response: UPTODATE
13/03/2007 17:39:06.218 ( 153) > Timeout
13/03/2007 17:39:06.218 ( 152) > Wait status 258
13/03/2007 17:38:36.218 ( 151) > Waiting for something to do ...
13/03/2007 17:38:36.218 ( 150) > Got error 12002 while trying to connect to:
13/03/2007 17:38:36.218 ( 150) >    http://post.audioscrobbler.com/?hs=true&p=1.1&c=jmo&v=0.1&u=0239666
13/03/2007 17:38:36.218 ( 150) >    Timeout.
13/03/2007 17:38:13.609 ( 149) > Timeout
13/03/2007 17:38:13.609 ( 148) > Wait status 258
13/03/2007 17:37:43.609 ( 147) > Waiting for something to do ...
13/03/2007 17:37:43.609 ( 146) > Got error 12002 while trying to connect to:
13/03/2007 17:37:43.609 ( 146) >    http://post.audioscrobbler.com/?hs=true&p=1.1&c=jmo&v=0.1&u=0239666
13/03/2007 17:37:43.609 ( 146) >    Timeout.
13/03/2007 17:37:22.609 ( 145) > Timeout
13/03/2007 17:37:22.609 ( 144) > Saving queue to C:\Documents and Settings\Bobby Comber\Application Data\J River\last.fm\Queue.txt ... 1 entries
13/03/2007 17:37:22.609 ( 143) > Added 1 entries to queue
13/03/2007 17:37:22.593 ( 142) > Wait status 1
13/03/2007 17:34:35.828 ( 141) > Waiting for something to do ...
13/03/2007 17:34:35.812 ( 140) > AS thread started
13/03/2007 17:34:35.812 ( 139) > AS thread starting
13/03/2007 17:34:35.812 ( 138) > Loaded 0 entries
13/03/2007 17:34:35.812 ( 137) > Loading queue from C:\Documents and Settings\Bobby Comber\Application Data\J River\last.fm\Queue.txt
13/03/2007 17:34:35.812 ( 136) > AS thread shutdown
13/03/2007 17:34:35.812 ( 135) > AS thread killed
13/03/2007 17:34:35.812 ( 134) > Saving queue to C:\Documents and Settings\Bobby Comber\Application Data\J River\last.fm\Queue.txt ... 0 entries

Is there something wrong?
13/03/2007 17:34:35.812 ( 133) > Told to exit

0239666 · « **Reply #27 on:** March 13, 2007, 07:29:57 pm »

Is there something I have to click in order to allow it to upload songs?

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #28 on:** March 15, 2007, 03:39:14 am »

Quote from: 0239666 on March 13, 2007, 07:29:57 pm

Is there something I have to click in order to allow it to upload songs?

As fas as the plugin is concerned the last.fm site received the tracks:

Code: [Select]

13/03/2007 17:47:45.328 (      193) > Waiting for something to do ...
13/03/2007 17:47:45.328 (      192) > Saving queue to C:\Documents and Settings\Bobby Comber\Application Data\J River\last.fm\Queue.txt ... 0 entries
13/03/2007 17:47:24.375 (      191) > Sending http://87.117.229.205:80/protocol_1.1?u=0239666&s=51f8d9bcbdcd3984c9a68363ee1ec0e7&a

    * =Urban%20Intelligence&t[0]=Straight%20Spittin'&b[0]=Urban%20Intelligeince&m[0]=&l[0]=209&i[0]=2007-03-13 17:47:13&

13/03/2007 17:47:23.375 (      190) > Sleeping 1 seconds
13/03/2007 17:47:23.375 (      189) >   Response: INTERVAL 1
13/03/2007 17:47:23.375 (      188) >   Response: http://87.117.229.205:80/protocol_1.1
13/03/2007 17:47:23.359 (      187) >   Response: 2871c76ed46eff41ceeef93583963ea3
13/03/2007 17:47:23.359 (      186) >   Response: UPTODATE
13/03/2007 17:47:13.562 (      185) > Timeout
13/03/2007 17:47:13.546 (      184) > Saving queue to C:\Documents and Settings\Bobby Comber\Application Data\J River\last.fm\Queue.txt ... 1 entries
13/03/2007 17:47:13.546 (      183) > Added 1 entries to queue

183 - You played a track and it was added to the submission queue
184 - The plugin for safety saved the submission queue to a disk file
185 - The submission thread timed out and checked the submission queue
186:189 - We asked last.fm where to submit the track. It said wait a minute then post it to 87.117.229.205 using the password hash 287...
190 - The submission thread waited a minute
191 - The thread submitted the track
192 - The thread removed the track from it's queue and saved the queue
193 - The thread waited for another track

Now ... I notice there are some funny characters after the &a which should be the artist. What is the artist name?

runemail · « **Reply #29 on:** March 24, 2007, 06:45:35 pm »

I use audiopod+ with my nano, it works even under vista x64 if you are able to get java running...

I am running 2 core2duo intel cpus at 3ghz, one with vista ultimate x64 that I paid for ;(, and one running a cracked vista ultimate x86, I feel cheated for paying for x64 when its clearly not ready for prime time. Vista x64 is the most expensive piece of beta sw ever released(pretending to be final).

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Author Topic: Last.fm (Read 9056 times)