BBC Sound Index
April 18, 2008 2:13 PM   Subscribe

BBC Sound Index -- an excellent way to confirm your worst fears about the music Internet users are listening to.
posted by feelinglistless (27 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Mariah Carey is number one.
Ketchup is a vegetable.
Wal-Mart has great prices.

Please pass the bong.
posted by Dizzy at 2:18 PM on April 18, 2008


Now where could they possibly have got the idea for that interface? Hmmm...
Unfortunately they seem to have some of the covers mixed up - see #13, #16, #20 for examples....
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 2:21 PM on April 18, 2008


BBC Sound Index - an excellent way to confirm your worst fears about the music Internet users are listening to feel smug about the superiority of your own musical tastes.

It worked for me!
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:22 PM on April 18, 2008 [1 favorite]


Your favo(u)rite index sucks.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 2:28 PM on April 18, 2008


There was a Fresh Air interview about a month ago with Eliot Van Buskirk in which he said (I may be paraphrasing), "...yeah. I think the people who are buying the most music don't actually really like music."
posted by Wolfdog at 2:36 PM on April 18, 2008 [1 favorite]


Meanwhile, last.fm continues to dispel most of my worst fears about the music to which Internet users listen.
posted by flatluigi at 2:37 PM on April 18, 2008


If circumcision was packageable and sellable , an index would be formed to push it as #1 of 2008 in a bid to make it popular.

Incidentally, I guess circumcision was marketed to impress emperors and rulers suffering from population control problems, who probably tought : "If they can get people to cut their own penis and their kids' penis, what else can they convince them to do , like fight each other to death for me? Totally awesome!".

I guess that marks the day the public relations industry was born.
posted by elpapacito at 2:40 PM on April 18, 2008


confirm your worst fears

Dude, my taste is so much better than your taste. My favorite band are these three guys who bang on trash can lids outside my house; they're so indie it hurts. If they ever sell out I'm going to listen to the cats fighting down the street instead.
posted by Leon-arto at 2:50 PM on April 18, 2008 [3 favorites]


Meanwhile, last.fm continues to dispel most of my worst fears about the music to which Internet users listen.

Speaking of which, I was just wondering what other MeFites listen to so I decided to form the Metafilter group on last.fm

Join up and get scrobbling.
posted by fleetmouse at 2:57 PM on April 18, 2008 [2 favorites]


I find the fact that Fall Out Boy is just barely beating out Oh, Brother Where Art Thou kind of heartening, actually.
posted by mikoroshi at 3:04 PM on April 18, 2008


I kind of wish #13 really was the cover of the new Nelly CD.
posted by rooftop secrets at 3:09 PM on April 18, 2008


Have YOU ever seen Anne Murray and Nelly in the same room, at the same time?
posted by Dizzy at 3:11 PM on April 18, 2008


I haven't even heard of five of the top ten. Of all the artists in the top ten, the only one whose most recent single (or anything from their most recent album, or anything they've put out in the last five years) I've heard is Mariah Carey.
posted by Sys Rq at 3:34 PM on April 18, 2008


Good for you.
posted by obvious at 3:57 PM on April 18, 2008


Yeah, but what is up with that? Who are these people?
posted by Sys Rq at 4:01 PM on April 18, 2008


I have this image in my head of some manager saying "This is not Web 2.0 enough, we need to do more!".
posted by Artw at 4:06 PM on April 18, 2008


Which five?
posted by feelinglistless at 4:06 PM on April 18, 2008


More people listening to Buddy Holly than Soulja Boy.
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
posted by The White Hat at 4:43 PM on April 18, 2008


Speaking of which, I was just wondering what other MeFites listen to so I decided to form the Metafilter group on last.fm

Sorry man, but you've been beaten out.
posted by flatluigi at 5:16 PM on April 18, 2008


Oh for the love of - but I searched for metafilter groups! Is their group search broken? Case sensitive? Feh.
posted by fleetmouse at 6:40 PM on April 18, 2008


Fleetmouse: you have just experienced the less-than-excellent side of last.fm. My favorite website sucks. :)
posted by nosila at 8:15 PM on April 18, 2008


Now where could they possibly have got the idea for that interface? Hmmm...

You do know that coverflow wasn't an apple invention right?
posted by srboisvert at 1:04 AM on April 19, 2008


You do know that coverflow wasn't an apple invention right?

Obviously he didnt. Whilst we're impressed at your obvious knowledge of obscure patents and their inventors, it would be far more useful to say something along the lines of:

"Youre referring to the Apple Coverflow right? Interesting you should mention, it did you know it was actually the invention of..."

I know stuff you dont but I manage to restrain myself from pointing that out to others.
posted by daveyt at 3:39 AM on April 19, 2008


I know stuff you dont but I manage to restrain myself from pointing that out to others.

OK. That was funny.
posted by srboisvert at 4:17 AM on April 19, 2008


This is interesting for a number of reasons. Let's have a look:

Several American Idol contestants in there, top middle and bottom of list. Several film soundtracks, including Disney. Although jazz and blues are the roots of pop, those genres are AWOL, along with many others (I think I spotted one classical recording). The tail end of these sorts of lists is often where the more interesting stuff is, although sometimes something in the "top X" deserves to be there in spite of the megabuck marketing/brainwashing campaign. Ethnic mix is so-so (latinos and latinas also AWOL); are audiences continually less segregated? Is the remaining audience segregation a result of targeted marketing?

Are these legal downloads only? Does this list tell us anything about the state of the music industry, specifically sales? I have never heard of a lot of these bands, either, so I can't be as dismissive as everyone else. There was recognizable bilge throughout, but who knows - could be some great pop in there? I'm sure a lot of MeFites like the Talking Heads and they made the list. Where does the age demographic peak, 13, 19, 25, older (I'm guessing the younger end of the spectrum)? There is an up side to mass pop culture, which is it provides common experience. My worst fear is that the democratization of music fizzles out, but this is just a list of commercial music. I can fill a hard drive with copyright free, for-the-love-of-it, unsigned music of all genres. Don't see that going away as long as we have electricity, cheap electronics, and the net. So plow on ahead, Corp Rock, it's all good.
posted by AppleSeed at 4:41 AM on April 19, 2008


nolisa, apparently we're friends on last.fm (and have yet to exchange a shoutbox comment!).
posted by blithely at 12:41 PM on April 19, 2008


MetaFilter: get off my lawn plz kthxbai!
posted by not_on_display at 10:33 PM on May 4, 2008 [1 favorite]


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