I’m a late adopter when it comes to last.fm — due mainly to problems working out what my password was (does the last.fm play appropriately with Safari? Might that be the problem?), but I finally got the password straightened out, and the possibilities of that project look terrific. I’m always to eager to learn about new artists whose work I’ll like, but I’m slow to try out music. The “profile” radio function should be exceptionally helpful in that regard.
Here, though, I see the usefulness of something I’ve never used much for my own iTunes purposes. The “profile” sorting would be more powerful, wouldn’t it, if it could read my ratings of the selections I play? I mean, I play plenty of tunes that aren’t my very favorite (and I don’t bother marking them as such, since I know which ones I like and don’t) — but the profile engine might benefit from knowing that I play Flaming Lips because I think they’re great, but I play Wu-Tang Clan because I’m trying to refine my hip-hop sensibilities, and am not perfectly ready to make a commitment to identifying them with my profile. I could tag “Suddenly Everything Has Changed” with five stars, “7th Chamber” as two (or no tag at all), and my profile would more accurately reflect my taste (until I realize that Eric is right, and mark Wu-Tang with five stars, too).
I have no hip-hop sensibilities. Euw.