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iTunes companion: Playalong

post #1 of 13
1/3/03 at 2:56am
Thread Starter 


<a href="http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=17666&db=macosx" target="_blank">playalong</a>

Kudos to Amazon.com. They have found a way to promote record sales with the AID of MP3s, instead of scraping for sales by trying to kill the MP3.

The RIAA should take note. Sales will result from marketing innovation, not punishment of the consumer.

Needs work and perhaps a better algorithm for matching tags but otherwise, this app is a brilliant idea.

[ 01-03-2003: Message edited by: tonton ]</p>
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post #2 of 13
1/3/03 at 3:44am
Thread Starter 
I think you'll notice by the price and the icon that that's actually Box set 2 that Amazon is trying to sell (I'm assuming Box Set 1 is out of print).

It seems the software tries to sell you "alternates" if the primary album is not available on Amazon. The algorithm is lame, though, and suggests unrelated items constantly.

For instance, it will show the icon for "Tony Monaco Trio" (a jazz guitar trio I've never heard of) when I play Monaco:Monaco (a popular record by Peter Hook of New Order fame) but it shows a question mark if I play a track from Inspiral Carpets:The Beast Inside instead of suggesting another IC album. Strange.

It seems it chooses the right icon about 9 out of ten times when it's not a collection or a CDS, though.

But I wish that when I played a track from a various artists sampler CD it could find the artist's release containing the same track.
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post #3 of 13
1/3/03 at 5:42am
Ooooh. This have given me the idea to the ultimate iTunes companion.

A little app that sends the tag of the music you are listening to to a server that then find patterns in what people listen to. Based on all iTunes users automatic feedback It then returns suggestions for other music that you probably is going to like.

The beauty of this is that when the database reaches a certain size it will even be able to suggest cross genres and not limit itself to "Nirvana is close to Sonic Youth" kind of recommendations.

It would be to music what Google is to www.

Apple if you listening: Please include this in the next version. If anyone else takes the idea: I want 10%
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post #4 of 13
1/16/03 at 12:54pm
[quote]Originally posted by Anders the White:
<strong>Ooooh. This have given me the idea to the ultimate iTunes companion.

A little app that sends the tag of the music you are listening to to a server that then find patterns in what people listen to. Based on all iTunes users automatic feedback It then returns suggestions for other music that you probably is going to like.

The beauty of this is that when the database reaches a certain size it will even be able to suggest cross genres and not limit itself to "Nirvana is close to Sonic Youth" kind of recommendations.

It would be to music what Google is to www.

Apple if you listening: Please include this in the next version. If anyone else takes the idea: I want 10% </strong><hr></blockquote>

Almost sounds like what MongoMusic used to do, until MicroSoft Triple-E'd them...
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'Million-to-one chances,' she said, 'crop up nine times out of ten.'

-- T. Pratchett, Equal Rites
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post #5 of 13
1/17/03 at 12:42pm
[quote]Originally posted by tonton:
<strong>Kudos to Amazon.com. They have found a way to promote record sales with the AID of MP3s, instead of scraping for sales by trying to kill the MP3. </strong><hr></blockquote>

I'm confused. This is a cool app, but from what I can see, it's not affiliated with Amazon.com in any way.. ?
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post #6 of 13
1/17/03 at 1:32pm
kind of pointless since 95% of the songs in iTunes for me are my own CDs ripped to the drive.

I guess for many it may be the opposite though and this could be of help :-\\
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post #7 of 13
1/18/03 at 1:02am
The idea about storing the iTunes rating in a networked database reminded me of something like that for movies. This website was shut down like a year ago, but <a href="http://www.moviecritic.com" target="_blank">Movie Critic</a> allowed you to rate movies you have seen. It when then use Macromedia's LikeMinds software to determine what movies you would like. It used other users' rankings to factor into the results. It also had a probability for guessing how accurate its guess was. Another cool feature was for watching a movie with a friend, you enter the username of you friend and it tells you movies both people would enjoy. Unfortunately, the website is now gone and just redirects to <a href="http://www.macromedia.com." target="_blank">www.macromedia.com.</a>
MusicMobs: Music recommendations based on your iTunes library. Publish your playlists.
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MusicMobs: Music recommendations based on your iTunes library. Publish your playlists.
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post #8 of 13
1/18/03 at 2:00am
Note that Windows Media Player already does this to an extent. It grabs CD cover art and links you to Amazon and other sites that carry the CD. This kind of stuff should be built into iTunes.

[ 01-18-2003: Message edited by: Eugene ]</p>
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post #9 of 13
1/19/03 at 6:13pm
[quote]Originally posted by Eugene:
<strong>Note that Windows Media Player already does this to an extent. It grabs CD cover art and links you to Amazon and other sites that carry the CD. This kind of stuff should be built into iTunes.

[ 01-18-2003: Message edited by: Eugene ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
UMMMMM NO!!!!! I DONT WANT ANY ADVERTIZING AT ALL!!!
125/51041 (top .2449%)-Amie Street - awesome independent DRM-free music
People really have got to stop thinking there is only one operating system, one economic system, one religion, and one...
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125/51041 (top .2449%)-Amie Street - awesome independent DRM-free music
People really have got to stop thinking there is only one operating system, one economic system, one religion, and one...
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post #10 of 13
1/19/03 at 11:15pm
Thread Starter 
[quote]Originally posted by frawgz:
<strong>

I'm confused. This is a cool app, but from what I can see, it's not affiliated with Amazon.com in any way.. ?</strong><hr></blockquote>

This from the developer's website:

[quote]Legal

Purchasing opportunities are provided in association with Amazon.com. Album cover art is copyright by Amazon.com and it's licensors and may not be reproduced. Neither Jason Suitts nor Amazon.com make any express or implied warranties or representations with respect to the software (including, without limitation, warranties of fitness, merchantability, noninfringement, or any implied warranties arising out of a course of performance, dealing, or trade usage)."<hr></blockquote>
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post #11 of 13
1/19/03 at 11:24pm
[quote]Originally posted by Paul:
<strong>
UMMMMM NO!!!!! I DONT WANT ANY ADVERTIZING AT ALL!!!</strong><hr></blockquote>

Um, it's not always there. The cover art is a visualization option, and you only see the purchase links after you double-click on the cover.

Not only is this kind of integration a potential way to get the music industry off Apple's back, it's actually really cool.
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post #12 of 13
1/19/03 at 11:35pm
Thread Starter 
[quote]Originally posted by applenut:
<strong>kind of pointless since 95% of the songs in iTunes for me are my own CDs ripped to the drive.

I guess for many it may be the opposite though and this could be of help :-\\</strong><hr></blockquote>

This functionality is cool even if you never click the Amazon link. I like the little album cover icon in my dock.
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post #13 of 13
1/20/03 at 10:11am
I hide the app (no way to close the window), because it's fun to look at the cover arts.
art may imitate life, but life imitates tv.
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art may imitate life, but life imitates tv.
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