It would be cool if popular tags was sorted by a combination of how many instances there of the tags and how many different people have used that tag, as opposed to just how many instances there are of that tag. Otherwise you might get a lot of weird personal tags on the list that people decided to add to their whole collection.
i was browsing. system of a down, HIM, and korn were tagged "metal" They are not metal. yellowcard, new found glory, blink-182, and papa roach were tagged "emo" They are not emo.
I see some big disputes comming in the future. we music fans are dicks to each other.
The problem is, people have no idea what to do with this feature, so the first idea that comes up is "genre." Then, everyone who looks for what other people ahve done with tags read them and go "oh, it means genre. I'll put in genres I think this is"
I also agree feel there should be some way to remove tags - The Sex Pistols currently appear under the "most popular" Progressive Rock tags... nonsense.
EDIT: They're called "tags" and not "genres" for a reason
Yes! I certainly hope more people understand this. As far as I am concerned, genreless are useless and should be ignored. Music should be listened to for what it is, not what it is categorized as. I even went as far as making a group about this!
None of my songs are tagged with typical genres. I'm tagging by theme and things like that.
Quoth James_: The problem is, people have no idea what to do with this feature, so the first idea that comes up is "genre." Then, everyone who looks for what other people ahve done with tags read them and go "oh, it means genre. I'll put in genres I think this is" So? Don't make me quote myself. You use the tags to tag the song with something you think describes it, and obviously those people feel that "metal" describes korn well
The other thing is, if a lot of people tag something as "metal" then metal is an appropriate tag for it. If only one or two do, then these tags will fall down the list of tags for the item, and the item will fall down the list of items for the tag.
Over time tags will become sorted based on majority opinion, they're moderated by people tagging them with something more appropriate.
At the moment they may be way off, but that's because it's a new feature.
Silly debates about the technicalities of genre are pointless, just go and tag things with what you feel are appropriate tags, and in the long run everything will sort it's self out.
If in the long run, one of the most popular tags for Korn is "metal", then that just shows that the majority of people disagree with you, and think Korn are metal - if not, then you're proven right, and can sit there with a smug grin on your face, and point and laugh at whoever tagged them as metal.
I think it's a brilliant feature, now stop moaning and get tagging!!!!!
The more people that tag stuff, the better that tag data will become. We can slice off as many tags from the top of the pile for each artist/album/track as we like.
Power law can be a curse, but in this case it's very much the 'knowledge of the crowd' that will save the day. Doesnt matter if a few people "mis-tag" stuff, majority rule will sort it out.
Random fact: 3 days since the new design, > 10,000 different tags have been created.
I started tagging based on the discussions in the old Last.fm forums in which tagging was a way to personalize your profile, so I have been thinking of tags that make sense for me. I have looked at how other people have tagged, and sometimes I will add those tags and sometimes I will not.
I have started with some "genre" tags that make sense for me and which I would also choose as a way to limit what I listen to. These tags were easy to think of and therefore made it easy to become comfortable with the tagging system. Other tags are more mood tags. I use "acoustic", for example, not for any track that is non-electric, but for a certain mood/style of acoustic playing that I would like to group together in a listening session. I have a few other "mood" tags, but I want to think through what I want to include in them before jumping off with them.
This individualization of tags has led to the 10k+ tags RJ mentioned. This is not a bad thing when you are thinking about individualizing your listening experience. You should create tags that make sense to you and which will help you define a listening experience. These tags should not become simply a "genre" list - that would be a huge mistake and a lost opportunity.
If you don't want to hear everything else people have thrown into a tag, start the radio from your Tags page. If you want to experiment, start the radio from the global tag page. (Note - listening to your personal radio stations is a contributor's benefit.)
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