Your least favourite band is fucking brilliant.
June 10, 2007 6:53 PM Subscribe
None of the artists I listen to are in Last.fm's database, and indeed, can't be included as their names are all represented pictorially by writing systems that aren't covered by the current Unicode standard.
posted by phrontist at 7:05 PM on June 10, 2007 [6 favorites]
posted by phrontist at 7:05 PM on June 10, 2007 [6 favorites]
From the site:
How does the Mainstream-Meter work?posted by furtive at 7:06 PM on June 10, 2007
The Mainstream-O-Meter calculates your mainstreamness by comparing the listener count of your favorite bands to the average listener count of the five bands who have the most listeners among Last.fm-users.
Of course, the results may be different from what you would've thought of as mainstream. Some bands which have a lot of listeners in real life don't have a large fanbase on Last.fm since people who use this service tend to be younger and more experienced with computers than the average person. Because of the restricted number of users, some genres like classical music and countries like India or the People's Republic of Chine are really underrepresented on Last.fm.
Since some users listen to all of their top artists equally while others have one top artist they listen to 99 percent of the time, the Meter also takes into account how much you listen to these bands in comparison. The artist you listen to most always gets a weight of 100%, while every other artist's play count in your profile is then compared to this.
So, if you would have played 100 tracks by Artist A (which is 75% mainstream) and 50 tracks by Artist B (which is 10% mainstream) this would come out as ((75 * 1) + (10 * 0,5)) / (1 + 0,5) = 53,333 % mainstream .
What happens if you don't listen to music? Aaagh! I'm being sucked into a black hole!!!
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 7:09 PM on June 10, 2007
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 7:09 PM on June 10, 2007
Apparently Radiohead is 103.56% mainstream. Somehow, this doesn't surprise me.
posted by Johnny Assay at 7:17 PM on June 10, 2007
posted by Johnny Assay at 7:17 PM on June 10, 2007
2.34 % mainstream
I feel...cool and hep. It's a strange sensation.
posted by jonmc at 7:22 PM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]
I feel...cool and hep. It's a strange sensation.
posted by jonmc at 7:22 PM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]
They have creams for that.
posted by ORthey at 7:24 PM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by ORthey at 7:24 PM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]
The formula shown here in this Diesel Sweeties comic is far simpler and, I think, reliable.
posted by Effigy2000 at 7:28 PM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by Effigy2000 at 7:28 PM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]
Ah yes, let us use one of the greatest inventions ever to achieve even greater things for the human race!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:28 PM on June 10, 2007
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:28 PM on June 10, 2007
During Bush's totally 1337 and totally necessary EMERGENCY THIRD TERM (omgf!rox!) this is how the holy soldiers of America's first reich will round us up for either the re-education camps or the rail cars bound for the crematoriums.
I'm 17.48 % mainstream.
posted by wfrgms at 7:31 PM on June 10, 2007
I'm 17.48 % mainstream.
posted by wfrgms at 7:31 PM on June 10, 2007
man up and link your percenteries.
jonmc, burhanistan, I'm looking at you
posted by unSane at 7:31 PM on June 10, 2007
jonmc, burhanistan, I'm looking at you
posted by unSane at 7:31 PM on June 10, 2007
24.24% Could it possibly be true that Last has never heard of Hank Williams?
posted by kimdog at 7:41 PM on June 10, 2007
posted by kimdog at 7:41 PM on June 10, 2007
I got 9% for this week, despite listening to only four different people, each of whom is about as mainstream as you can get (Timbaland, Tchaikovsky, Amy Winehouse, Gwen Stefani).
posted by supercrayon at 7:44 PM on June 10, 2007
posted by supercrayon at 7:44 PM on June 10, 2007
13.68%, 6.65% for weekly. Whatever that means.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:55 PM on June 10, 2007
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:55 PM on June 10, 2007
20.06% , 15.35% weekly.
My penis is 4.2 inches long and 8.7 inches in circumference. (No link, sorry.)
posted by carsonb at 8:01 PM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]
My penis is 4.2 inches long and 8.7 inches in circumference. (No link, sorry.)
posted by carsonb at 8:01 PM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]
Hm. I don't have a Last.fm account, I have no plans of getting one, and for the past few days I've been listening mainly to Father, Son & Friends, Roger McGuinn, Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew and The Pirates of Penzance.
Not so much mainstream as Spanish Mainstream, am I right?
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:04 PM on June 10, 2007
Not so much mainstream as Spanish Mainstream, am I right?
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:04 PM on June 10, 2007
I can't afford a survey. Ah well. Feeling normative over here except for the (cough).
posted by longsleeves at 8:14 PM on June 10, 2007
posted by longsleeves at 8:14 PM on June 10, 2007
oh, and the you know, things. no, not those things. THOSE things.
yeah. Plus the.... well, you know.
but other than that.
posted by longsleeves at 8:21 PM on June 10, 2007
yeah. Plus the.... well, you know.
but other than that.
posted by longsleeves at 8:21 PM on June 10, 2007
Mainstream? Maintream!!! NEVER!!! I WILL GO DOWn ON THIS SHIP FIGHTING THAT ACCUSATION!!
posted by Skygazer at 8:22 PM on June 10, 2007
posted by Skygazer at 8:22 PM on June 10, 2007
Last.fm???
De gustibus non disputandum est.
My Takeawildassguess-o-meter reports a whopping 9.7124354983214159%. Having stood in line with 1500 DJ Shadow - types, and having that "home-at-last" feeling for the first time since, ermm ... long ago, I don't much care.
posted by Twang at 8:33 PM on June 10, 2007
De gustibus non disputandum est.
My Takeawildassguess-o-meter reports a whopping 9.7124354983214159%. Having stood in line with 1500 DJ Shadow - types, and having that "home-at-last" feeling for the first time since, ermm ... long ago, I don't much care.
posted by Twang at 8:33 PM on June 10, 2007
I'm 24.90% mainstream, which puts me right in the center of that big gaussian at the bottom of the page...
...right in the mainstream.
(we are all beautiful unique flowers)
posted by pinespree at 8:48 PM on June 10, 2007
...right in the mainstream.
(we are all beautiful unique flowers)
posted by pinespree at 8:48 PM on June 10, 2007
6.23%, goddamn Cake.
posted by The White Hat at 8:50 PM on June 10, 2007
posted by The White Hat at 8:50 PM on June 10, 2007
What a great site. How much other people dislike your music is obviously the correct metric for measuring personal worth.
posted by Malor at 9:08 PM on June 10, 2007
posted by Malor at 9:08 PM on June 10, 2007
38.68 % mainstream. Which way is cooler? Up or down?
posted by prosthezis at 9:08 PM on June 10, 2007
posted by prosthezis at 9:08 PM on June 10, 2007
I doubt last.fm exposes enough information to do it, but it'd be interesting to make this location-aware. Glancing through the results for some friends, I can see several artists I'd consider fairly mainstream, but only amongst the 28,034 last.fm users in Australia (plus expats).
So, if you could get the listener demographics for an artist, compare that with the total user count for the user's country, or maybe a weighted average between .. and then they'd block your IP address and you'd have to go and find a different plate of beans.
Also, 17.4%.
posted by plant at 9:52 PM on June 10, 2007
So, if you could get the listener demographics for an artist, compare that with the total user count for the user's country, or maybe a weighted average between .. and then they'd block your IP address and you'd have to go and find a different plate of beans.
Also, 17.4%.
posted by plant at 9:52 PM on June 10, 2007
-178.23%
Then it asked where I got my tunes from - just before exploding in showers of bright sparks and dark clouds of smoke.
posted by loquacious at 9:54 PM on June 10, 2007
Then it asked where I got my tunes from - just before exploding in showers of bright sparks and dark clouds of smoke.
posted by loquacious at 9:54 PM on June 10, 2007
None of the artists I listen to are in Last.fm's database, and indeed, can't be included as their names are all represented pictorially by writing systems that aren't covered by the current Unicode standard.
anildash must have a sock puppet.
posted by dhartung at 9:55 PM on June 10, 2007
anildash must have a sock puppet.
posted by dhartung at 9:55 PM on June 10, 2007
16.08 % mainstream
But it lists stuff I don't even know. What the hell is CAKE? That's at the top of the list. I don't listen to CAKE. What's a CAKE? Aside from the culinary reference? What's Fastball? What's a Butch Walker? Fountains of Wayne? Art Brut? White Stripes? Half Man Half Biscuit? Beatallica?
Come to think of it, I don't even use last.fm, so how do they know I like Monty Python, They Might Be Giants, Tom Lehrer, Richard Cheese, Ben Folds, Mitch Hedberg, Randy Newman, Michael Franks, Weird Al Yankovic, Barenaked Ladies, Bill Hicks, and I kinda sorta like Blink 182. Where they getting this info? Are there little elves inside my computer? Cuz i want them caught and shot now!
They list Outer Space Love Project on this meter thing, but it put zero percent by it cuz it doesn't know what to make of it. Which is just the way OSLP likes it, I think. They rock, by the way. I'm like one of maybe a few dozen people who have been listening to them since the late 90s. It's very cool to see they still exist, but I haven't listened to them lately is what I'm trying to say.
This thing's creepy.
posted by ZachsMind at 11:37 PM on June 10, 2007
But it lists stuff I don't even know. What the hell is CAKE? That's at the top of the list. I don't listen to CAKE. What's a CAKE? Aside from the culinary reference? What's Fastball? What's a Butch Walker? Fountains of Wayne? Art Brut? White Stripes? Half Man Half Biscuit? Beatallica?
Come to think of it, I don't even use last.fm, so how do they know I like Monty Python, They Might Be Giants, Tom Lehrer, Richard Cheese, Ben Folds, Mitch Hedberg, Randy Newman, Michael Franks, Weird Al Yankovic, Barenaked Ladies, Bill Hicks, and I kinda sorta like Blink 182. Where they getting this info? Are there little elves inside my computer? Cuz i want them caught and shot now!
They list Outer Space Love Project on this meter thing, but it put zero percent by it cuz it doesn't know what to make of it. Which is just the way OSLP likes it, I think. They rock, by the way. I'm like one of maybe a few dozen people who have been listening to them since the late 90s. It's very cool to see they still exist, but I haven't listened to them lately is what I'm trying to say.
This thing's creepy.
posted by ZachsMind at 11:37 PM on June 10, 2007
17.32 generally...but 1.35 this week because all I've listened to is Tinariwen.
posted by crinklebat at 1:05 AM on June 11, 2007
posted by crinklebat at 1:05 AM on June 11, 2007
I'm 10.68% mainstream overall, and a thrilling 0.06% this week.
I'm probably more mainstream really though - Last.fm itself is a rubbish indicator of listening habits, since it can only track what you listen to on your computer. I really wish someone would invent a device that listened to your record, CD and tape players, somehow worked out what you were playing, and updated Last.fm accordingly.
posted by jack_mo at 3:12 AM on June 11, 2007
I'm probably more mainstream really though - Last.fm itself is a rubbish indicator of listening habits, since it can only track what you listen to on your computer. I really wish someone would invent a device that listened to your record, CD and tape players, somehow worked out what you were playing, and updated Last.fm accordingly.
posted by jack_mo at 3:12 AM on June 11, 2007
Kylie Minogue has 0 listeners.
Somehow I find that hard to believe.
posted by Katemonkey at 3:50 AM on June 11, 2007
Somehow I find that hard to believe.
posted by Katemonkey at 3:50 AM on June 11, 2007
It'd be ok if last.fm knew what I listened to on my iPod, as that accounts for 99.9999% of my musical intake. I am 1% mainstream according to this thing, because it doesn't know about all the Radiohead I am listening to on my iPod.
posted by donkeymon at 5:17 AM on June 11, 2007
posted by donkeymon at 5:17 AM on June 11, 2007
I must read more carefully. I thought metafilter was 73% manstream. Seems more right somehow.
posted by srboisvert at 6:21 AM on June 11, 2007
posted by srboisvert at 6:21 AM on June 11, 2007
11.67. And this took me to realize that my band has 1,008 listeners in last.fm. Cool.
posted by micayetoca at 6:51 AM on June 11, 2007
posted by micayetoca at 6:51 AM on June 11, 2007
Last.fm's idea of "mainstream" seems to vary considerably from the mainstream's idea of "mainstream." Aside from Radiohead clocking in above 100% (yeah, that was the first thing I noticed too), it shows Daft Punk as mainstreamier than Neil Young, who is mainstreamier than Sade.
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
posted by adamrice at 7:43 AM on June 11, 2007
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
posted by adamrice at 7:43 AM on June 11, 2007
12.25%, but only because it doesn't know how much ChinesePod I listen to on my iPod.
posted by ambrosia at 8:22 AM on June 11, 2007
posted by ambrosia at 8:22 AM on June 11, 2007
I am 100% mainstream. I am the stream. Candirú swim up My ears. Much as you hipsters try to resist Me, you can only define yourselves in relation to Me; I envelop you and perfuse your every experience of music. Your need to distinguish yourself by opposing Me causes you to worship Me only in secret, to feel guilt for doing so, to fight the yearnings of your soul toward Me; I see it all. And so I control you, I define you, I determine what you listen to even as I do the meanest teenage mall-rat.
The iPhone is the new Razr.
The Decembrists are the new Neutral Milk Hotel.
Pink is the new red.
You can't fight the stream.
posted by Methylviolet at 10:35 AM on June 11, 2007
The iPhone is the new Razr.
The Decembrists are the new Neutral Milk Hotel.
Pink is the new red.
You can't fight the stream.
posted by Methylviolet at 10:35 AM on June 11, 2007
50%, but my music taste is still far superior to all of you.
posted by ageispolis at 12:20 PM on June 11, 2007
posted by ageispolis at 12:20 PM on June 11, 2007
I think what's most interesting to me is that graph on the bottom shows that there are far more users on the low end of the mainstreamness scale, and that very mainstream users are extremely rare. Or am I reading that wrong?
posted by skullbee at 8:48 PM on June 11, 2007
posted by skullbee at 8:48 PM on June 11, 2007
Hmmm. I'm far too mainstream, and thus embarrassed to post my percenage. This is all because the Red Hot Chili Peppers released a double album. Thus listening to it just a few times rendered far too many plays. I don't even like them... honest guv!
For anyone that like last.fm then I suggest you check out a similar application called 'The Filter'. This little thing can make similar artist playlists from your MP3 collection and works really well. You can get it from TheFilter.com
posted by mackeral at 3:03 AM on June 12, 2007
For anyone that like last.fm then I suggest you check out a similar application called 'The Filter'. This little thing can make similar artist playlists from your MP3 collection and works really well. You can get it from TheFilter.com
posted by mackeral at 3:03 AM on June 12, 2007
It'd be ok if last.fm knew what I listened to on my iPod, as that accounts for 99.9999% of my musical intake.
If you're on a Mac, try iScrobbler – it can handle stuff you listen to on your iPod. There's also a Windows program that's supposed to do the same thing, but I can't remember its name right now.
Oh, and 8.06% (3.71% weekly).
posted by klausness at 7:38 AM on June 17, 2007
If you're on a Mac, try iScrobbler – it can handle stuff you listen to on your iPod. There's also a Windows program that's supposed to do the same thing, but I can't remember its name right now.
Oh, and 8.06% (3.71% weekly).
posted by klausness at 7:38 AM on June 17, 2007
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posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 6:54 PM on June 10, 2007