Audioscrobbler - Tracking your Tunes
Audioscrobbler is a combination website and plugin for your favorite music application which keeps track of what you've been listening to.
To answer the obvious "so what" question, once the site has a decent idea of what you've been listening to, it's then able to recommend other groups you may like based on what others who like the same music are listening to.
It also provides a nifty RSS or text feed of the songs you've listened to most recently linked to info about the music on Audioscrobbler, which you can include on your blog (check out the lower right of Glitchnyc.com). The realtime data will also allow them (soon) to keep charts that will put billboard to shame with its accuracy and speed.
The plugins are all free and open source, so you can download them without fear of becoming spyware infected or sending tons of personal data over the wire, and the data they collect is Creative Commons by-nc-sa, so you're free to redistribute it as long as you follow the guidelines of that license.
It's fun to look at the personal charts of what you've been listening to and see just how bad you are with certain artists (can you tell I've been on a Rilo Kiley kick all week?) Now I'll just have to remember to turn the plug-in off before going on my occasional "guilty pleasure" Avril binges.
