I've somehow managed to get subscriber level on Last.fm's “social music revolution” site, and I'm really enjoying it. Apparently they lost some of my tags (which I had really used before, so it didn't affect me), and to make up for it gave me some time at subscriber level.

What this means is I get access to tons of different radio stations, including:

• “tag radio”, which plays musics based on user tagging (normally along genre lines)

• “personal radio” and “favorites” – both your own and other people's

• “similar artist radio” (pick an artist and listen to similar music)

...and more. The radio stations are streamed individually though, so you can skip or even ban tracks that you don't like, or add them to your favorites list, or set it to only play music you've never heard before.

The result was that last week I listed to over 150 different artists (mainly from 'blues radio', 'vocal jazz radio' and 'motown radio', but others as well). The whole site is very well put together and is full of 'Web 2.0' feel and features. I'm gonna make the most of this while it lasts!

I did discover some incredibly sad people though. There is a group of self declared Introverted, Lonely and Over-Sensitive users. Their discussion of their love lives is the most pathetic thing I have come across in a good while – it's quite good for a giggle, but I have to admit I got bored fairly quickly. Maybe the last.fm service just attracts that kind of person, but it's possible there is actually a causal link, so I better be careful :-).