Turn up the Radio...Online!

Back in my day (wow did I really just write that?), we made mixtapes and got together with friends to trade music and homemade collections of favorite songs. Now I'll save the discussion about legal online music sharing services for another day. Today is all about throwing out those old dusty TDK cassettes and scratched up CD compilations you've stuffed into a worn Caselogic folder. The coolest part of trading, sharing, and showing off your musical tastes was always the community of friends you formed around your similar aural tastes. You were an army forged to fight against the forces of lame music. Or what you deemed to be the uncool noise of the masses.

Well, that army has moved online and the kingdom is ruled by Last.fm.

Not the first site of its kind, but surely the most progressive in terms of community interaction, Last.fm has seen unparalleled growth in just the last year. Now also available on the Xbox 360, they have added one million new users on that platform alone since going live in the past month. Now all that being said, you're probably asking 'But Guy, what exactly is Last.fm?' Bottom line coming right up.

Last.fm is an online radio and music community based out of the UK. It allows you to choose songs, create and share playlists.  After a few uses, the site builds lists that showcase what makes up the particular rock to your roll. Top tracks and artists are compiled and easily viewed by other users on the site. Last.fm is, above all else, a social network of music lovers. Create a profile, listen to user stations or choose a band or genre and listen to like songs on a site generated playlist. Last.fm is your radio station to mold as you see fit.

There are also a variety of apps available through the vibrant community that can enhance the experience whether you are listening through your computer, game console, or mobile phone. There are even apps that work through Facebook, MySpace, and Skype. Some of these apps allow you to create mash-ups of Last.fm tracks and Flickr pictures, find out what genres are most popular at a given time, and a create a desktop generator that takes information from your profile to create a cool desktop wallpaper.

Bursting with a plethora of songs from thousands of artists, across a multitude of diverse genres, Last.fm is a music-phile's dream come true.

So what do you think about Last.fm? Are you a user or on the fence about signing up? Let's keep the discussion going in the comments below. As always, you can follow my musings on the latest in internet technology over on Twitter @SavingsGCapes.