In June 2009 I created a profile with Last.fm. Today, well over 51000 plays later, I deleted it, and it must be one of the most cathartic things I have done in a long time.
Last.fm is, at it's heart, a very useful site. You play music, it records said plays, lets you see stats about your plays, suggests similar music you might like, etc. But for me it's a holdover from an era in my music education where liking music was something to be proven to people. It wasn't enough to enjoy the music, I had to maintain an accurate representation of my listening habits, lest anyone get the wrong idea about who I am. No, I'm not just a metalhead, look, look at the number of trip hop plays I have right next to the Iron Maiden!
It detracted from the experience of listening to music when every play at the back of my mind there was the satisfying knowledge that somewhere a number was increasing through my input, to the point where I would force myself to listen to a track that I might not have been enjoying entirely at the time so it would scrobble.
Sometime last week I decided to let the scrobbler update, and in doing so something stopped working. I don't know why, but it wouldn't connect to my account, and instead of looking for a solution, I thought to myself "Why should I?" The question rattled around my head, delighting in the echo of an age past, when I listened to music because I wanted to, not because I wanted to show people I wanted to. I realised I had become too attached to the numbers, the statistics that subtly coloured my last few years of musical experience. And now, a week after that first question, I have ended it.
Goodbye Last.fm. You were by no means a bad experience, and you introduced me to a lot of new music, but I sincerely hope I never sign up for you again.
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Last.fm is, at it's heart, a very useful site. You play music, it records said plays, lets you see stats about your plays, suggests similar music you might like, etc. But for me it's a holdover from an era in my music education where liking music was something to be proven to people. It wasn't enough to enjoy the music, I had to maintain an accurate representation of my listening habits, lest anyone get the wrong idea about who I am. No, I'm not just a metalhead, look, look at the number of trip hop plays I have right next to the Iron Maiden!
It detracted from the experience of listening to music when every play at the back of my mind there was the satisfying knowledge that somewhere a number was increasing through my input, to the point where I would force myself to listen to a track that I might not have been enjoying entirely at the time so it would scrobble.
Sometime last week I decided to let the scrobbler update, and in doing so something stopped working. I don't know why, but it wouldn't connect to my account, and instead of looking for a solution, I thought to myself "Why should I?" The question rattled around my head, delighting in the echo of an age past, when I listened to music because I wanted to, not because I wanted to show people I wanted to. I realised I had become too attached to the numbers, the statistics that subtly coloured my last few years of musical experience. And now, a week after that first question, I have ended it.
Goodbye Last.fm. You were by no means a bad experience, and you introduced me to a lot of new music, but I sincerely hope I never sign up for you again.
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