In the Beginning


Do you remember mp3.com? The original mp3.com, not the pale pretend version we've got now.

Before they cut the service down the nothing, shut down their European servers and started treating customers like shit - and going bankrupt - they had some cool features - like Recommendation Radio. It was like, "Do you like genre X? Well here's some recently uploaded good tracks you might like".

Well, I was going through some of my old archives, and I found a few hundred of these recommended tracks that I'd downloaded. I got them on January 30th 2001, almost exactly nine years ago. Here's the track listing for the Trip Hop "channel":

Soma Sonic - Crazy Moon
Ikarus - Touched the Sun
Electrostatic - Reflection
Trancenden - Scenes from New York
Full Blown Kirk - Mars
Khurson - Mr Shakra
Voice of the Sallelites - What You Gonna Do
Myrtle - Not Quite Here
Girl Next Door - Gorgeous
Dustlab - Seenz
Sonus - No Egress
Soma sonic - Falling
Silverman - Love Me Too
Market - M6
303-reactor - 303-Agression
10 Watt Mary - Superfly
Dustlab - Over the Line
Transient - Emmel Haw Forte Forte
The Fur Ones - French Bread

Full Blown Kirk? I think they're still around. Same for 303 Reactor. Ikarus and The Fur Ones have respectable followings today.

Others, like Substructure, Not Applicable and Gorgrous Girl, had big fanbases on mp3.com, but seemingly went nowhere after it ended.

PPK had a great following - then got a label contract and deleted their page. My old friends Abney Park have gone from strength to strength - thanks in no part whatsoever to the track I contributed to their remix album.

My track's the one they got the name wrong, and dropped from later pressings. Ah well.

3 comments:

  1. I've no idea what mp3.com was. And I'm not familiar with any of these bands.

    I think I end up finding music that like through the usual routes--various radio stations, music videos, and movie/tv soundtracks. Although, every now and then, I'll be out somewhere and I'll hear a good tune that catches my attention.

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  2. The nearest equivalent (and sometime competitor) to mp3.com is Soundclick.com>.

    There's some of my own old track somewhere there too.

    As for the bands, they're somewhat obscure - certainly not chart bands - but if you follow trends in music they'll be familiar.

    I've been know to find new music by downloading anything that had an interesting name, from a newsgroup. Found some favourites that way.

    Then there's Pandora and LastFM.

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  3. MP3.com was ahead of its time. I had quite a few - cough - 'fans' there who vanished when it sank.

    Abney Park have a gorgeous website and some clever marketing ideas. Pity they don't allow you to hear them!

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