Google rolls out Explore Similar Artists feature on Google Play
If you like Adele, you may also like Lady Gaga or Jennifer Lopez, and if you like music by Metallica, you are probably also into Guns and Roses, and Bryan Adams. There are lots of options out there to explore similar artists, from simply keying in an artist name on YouTube and looking at the suggestions, to using Pandora Radio, Last.FM, or any music shopping site that is listing "customers also bought or looked at" information on their sites.
And now it is Google that is rolling out a new feature on Google Play that suggests similar artists for you to explore. If you live in a country where Google Music is already available in the Play store, you may already have access to the feature that is currently being rolled out for all Google Music users.
When you open an artist page on Google Music, you may see an Explore similar artists link at the top of the page that you can click on to be taken to a page that reminds me a lot of Musicovery, a music discovery service that is showing connections between artists that you can follow to discover new artists that are related to the artist that you entered as a starting point.
Each artist is listed with a photo and connections to other artists that you can follow along. The selected artist is listed with a short description - taken from the Google store - and an option to go to that artists page on Google Music to preview tracks and, if you like the music, make a purchase.
My first impression of the feature is that it needs some work before it can become a helpful tool. First, you only get a maximum of three suggestions at any time, which is not a lot. In addition, you do not get any information as to why those artists are suggested to you. Do they have a voice that sounds nearly the same, make music in the same genre, have formed a band together or live in the same city. It is not clear why the suggestions are being made.
For now, I definitely prefer to use other services and sources for music recommendations. What about you, do you have access to the new feature already? Are you using a music discovery service? (via Phandroid)
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