Polling Without Context

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

[Poll #1018696]

Comments

Other questions

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

What do you think last.fm is representative of, if anything?
Which do you listen to most?
Are there any that surprise you?

Re: Other questions

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised Placebo are that popular. Are they still going?

Re: Other questions

[ms-bracken.livejournal.com]

I'm always amazed by this - I think they got quite a lot of traction in the US compared with other bands of that era, and are still going. These charts also favour artists with sustantial back catalogues, which Placebo have (5 albums?) compared to a lot of other bands. That doesn't explain all of these charts, but it does explain a lot.

And, I think, they represent the acme of proto-emo, even more than the Manics or Everclear do.

Re: Other questions

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Placebo also were Big In Europe.

Re: Other questions

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

I thought Weezer were proto-emo. Its so confusing. Didn't emo used to mean beefed up guitar pop rather than watered down nu metal?

Battle of the back catalogues: Led Zep but no Stones? And were Queen really big in America?

Re: Other questions

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Last FM is also big in Europe remember!

I am actually quite surprised by the Beatles.

Stones at #43

Re: Other questions

[ms-bracken.livejournal.com]

Sorry, yes - proto-emo in the sense of sounding like watered down nu-metal before that was cool...

Now you mention it, the lack of Stones in that list is quite a surprise.

Re: Other questions

[infov0re.livejournal.com]

Weezer == emo == "Loud Songs About Girls".

That's the way I always explained it. It hasn't changed so much, you know.

See also: Jimmy Eat World.

Re: Other questions

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

See also: Jimmy Eat World.

Exactly! But the road from Jimmy Eat World to My Chemical Romance is beyond me. Where did the goths sneakily insert their genes?

In fact Pete Wenz: what's that all about?

Re: Other questions

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Revenge of the Sandman readers :(

Re: Other questions

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

AH! but, no. the acme of proto-emo is TEH WEDDING PRESENT, and place bo are the goth weddoes ;)

Re: Other questions

[whalefish.livejournal.com]

Death Cab For Cutie are a bit surprising. I knew they were a pretty big cult sort of thing in the US, didn't realise they were actually massively popular though...

Re: Other questions

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Well "massive" here is a slightly rogue term. The most popular artist - RHCP, toppling the Beatles from that position this week - has around 58,000 listeners - this wd be enough to get a #1 UK single most weeks, incidentally. So the question is - how many people use last.FM, what percentage of them listen to the RHCP, and what kind of listeners AREN'T using it.

It may be that 90% of all Death Cab listeners are also on last.fm after all, but only 9% of, say, T.I. listeners.

Re: Other questions

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

I don't know what it means though - is it "most people who have listened to a track today" or "most tracks listened to ever"?

Similarly I don't quite have a handle on "do you like" - most songs? some songs? One great track?

Re: Other questions

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

1. It's number of listeners to anything by that act in the last week.
2. Find a criteria that works for you!