Thanks! I'll pass the good feedback on to the rest of our team. We're working hard to bring you more features. I'm actually working on the autoplay algorithm right now so any feedback is quite helpful. Drop me a line anytime.
Chris from Grooveshark
Chris from Grooveshark
Short term it works fine, but long term(couple of days) it'll go off on a tangent. For example, I'd start out with a fast paced upbeat song, and eventually it'll go to playing non-stop slow country music.
For new discovery, I think you should let the user be able to select a new song style mid-way through. Something like "Play more like it" button, that would reset the algorhytm around the current song you are listening to.
i.e. you start out with Hip Hop, then eventually you'll hit a song that is Hip Hop/Country, then you'll hit a song that's Country/Country, and then you are stuck listening for 3 hours to country music. Until you hit Country/Hip-Hop and get out of the loop.
You could probably expand the options a little bit by making a few mutually exclusive lists. For example someone whose initial search was a country music song, probably doesn't want to ever hear gangsta rap. And vice versa.
As far as trying to figure out the mood, I don't think that's plausible. The whole like/dislike/forward thing isn't going to get you the results you want. For example, I might "like" a song, but it doesn't mean I want to start hearing more songs like that at the moment. The dislike/forward is mostly used to skip past the songs that don't fit my initial criteria.
I think it's something that you are better off leaving for your users to do manually. If they want to start hearing new types of music, they'll just search for a new song. There is no real reason to try to guesstimate their mood, since chances are you'll just get it wrong and will ruin the user experience.
Oh and here is another suggestion for auto-play, let users use it without searching for the initial song. Use it as a "Play me a random song" button. This way users can discover new music.
Keep up the good work.
You're very casually making a serious accusation. Can you offer any evidence that Grooveshark is doing something illegal?
If you get an agreement with the major labels, I will become a paid subscriber. It would be one of the greatest things that have happened to music in this millennium.
As for the major labels, keep your eyes peeled. We're working hard on that end. We know it will be a critical component.