Your ideas for new subscription features

I'm actually happy with what we get.. On-demand would of course be -the- feature, but perhaps not possible at the current time for Last.fm..

I've had so many thoughts and threads about smaller and bigger features for this site, but I can't think of any right now.. (due to the lack of a "My forum posts" (posts you started - not limited to the last 2 weeks)..

but the single thing I would like the most is a "read guarantee". I want at least one staff member to open my support/feedback/idea thread, and marked thereafter.. I see so many "+1"-threads just silently go away, with no staff member agreeing or disagreeing..

of course, this is not do-able and rather stupid, but. as I have said many times - we're paying for this, so listen to us, take our feedback and listen to our demands

Former subscriber, haven't bothered since it was revealed there are certain tracks which will only play on the radio but there's no indication of what these tracks are. Would probably pay again if this was resolved. Would also love to see more done with the auto-corrections - like tracks and artists (and albums?) being completely merged, so that you don't see the incorrect names all over the charts.

The new features I want are no new features. What I want is pretty simple... and will keep me subscribing for life.

First and foremost, focus in on the data architecture and get it right! If I had a buck for every time I've said this over the years, I'd be a rich man: get the front-end wrong, you rebuild the front-end; get the app layer wrong, you rebuild the app layer + the front-end; get the data architecture wrong, you rebuild everything.

Whatever it takes, focus in on the data architecture and work toward an accurate catalog. That doesn't mean perfect scrobbles, but it does mean building an abstraction mechanism between the labels and internal sys, integrating the album attribute, and cleaning up the base catalog. Whether its integrating Musicbrainz, Discogs, or additional catalog services, implementing additional internal MDM mechanisms, or a combination of all the above, pick a method/arch that moves you in the direction of serving the system of record purpose, and get it done. Without it, you're just building new services on a faulty foundation... house of cards.

Second, work on enhancing and solidifying the API. Make the jump to allowing full control (integrate banned track retrieval, shout retrieval/tracking, track removal, message management, etc), and build in an appropriate synch mechanism.

At its core, LFM is a data services firm. Data services are it's bread and butter. They've got the one thing that no one else has: scrobbling ubiquity. As a result, they're the perfect service to serve as system of record. Work on the data services and API and everything else falls into place.

+100 to everything JustSomeOldJoe said.

I agree completely. The first, second, third, fourth, and fifth priorities should be getting the architecture right. The sixth, seventh, and eigth priority, the API. (My request for editable scrobbles would be somewhere well down below that.)

Edited to Add: If they had a "subscribe to help support our architecture-revamping project!" campaign who's benefits were deferred until the architecture work was done, that would be enough to get me to finally subscribe if they were able to convince me they were going to do what it takes to get the architecture (not perfect, but) solid.

toc-rox said:
@JustSomeOldJoe: Do not overrate scrobbling and data services - that's not where in the future "the music plays".Don't think it's the future at all, but it's a necessary, integral piece.

My library use to be what sat on my PC... easily managed by the lib manager of my choice. Now, it's what sits on Last.fm, lala, myspace, and hundreds of bookmarks to multiple additional services... in addition to my PC. There needs to be a single hub that can collect and store that info... a single place where I can refer to get an as complete pic as possible of what my true "library" actually is (for a multitude of reasons).

There's only one place near capable of providing that service. It's that service alone that has value to me, even without playback. Regardless, tighten up that arch and the degree of brittle reduces significantly enabling quicker/easier integration of new services.

It might not be the future of music, but it's an integral piece and a significant strategic advantage.

Exactly. My "library" is spread across my computer, my iPod, Rhapsody, Pandora.com, YouTUBE, Myspace, several places where I purchase CDs, and last.fm.

There is NOTHING* last.fm could do to make themselves the only, or even the primary place that I listen to music. However, it is already becoming the central hub from which the rest of these sources branch out.



* well, other than providing anything I could ever want to listen to, no matter how obscure, available immediately for listening on-demand whether or not I'm connected to the internet, on my home computer or work computer or my Ipod or the car stereo...and a pony, a perpetual motion machine, and the higgs boson.

Just an FYI (that seems to fit with the convo)...

tburny put up a blog entry on the new client, with screen shots included, here. Looks like an improvement... discovery mode and artist selection control (popular to obscure) are definitely steps in the right direction.

Wonder if some of those features will be sub only.

I am with JSOJ and Dankine. A bit of an old timer myself and i am tired of some old as hell bugs never getting fixed and some very basic, structurally fundamental, crap not being focused on to focus on this being the red, sing-songy version of Facebook.

-G.

No1 feature for me: Export entire listening data to .csv (And library)

However, I personally am unlikely to unsubscribe. It expired for 12 hours and I felt suddenly naked.

maz35 said:
JustSomeOldJoe said:
Just an FYI (that seems to fit with the convo)...

tburny put up a blog entry on the new client, with screen shots included, here. Looks like an improvement... discovery mode and artist selection control (popular to obscure) are definitely steps in the right direction.

Wonder if some of those features will be sub only.

Hybrid stations! And, or and not functions! Its like all my streaming dreams come true. Please finish the new client soon guys :PYup... just hoping they provide API access.

Interesting. Thank you very much. :)

flaneur said:
To all those who mentioned the importance of data -- I couldn't possibly agree more with you. We want Last.fm to be the definitive online home of your music taste
. . .
continuing to improve our catalogue at the global level will be important to this too. Excellent. That's a service clarifier and an expectation setter... thanks!