― caspar (caspar), Friday, 16 July 2004 12:14 (nineteen years ago) link
My question is this: do you think AMG realized that the only things that read it are either web scraping robot front ends to various music metadata software that didn't want to fork over the six figs for the 'real' SQL db, or human eye robot front ends to music dorks that don't mind the now SEVENTEEN clicks to get from ILM query to 'Jason Falkner played bass on that one'? And so they designed for their target market?
― caspar (caspar), Friday, 16 July 2004 12:15 (nineteen years ago) link
― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Friday, 16 July 2004 12:21 (nineteen years ago) link
We would have been convinced, had Elvis Telecom not posted links to a guy who built a multi-browser version in under two hours, and a business announcement talking about the links between AMG and Microsoft...
― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Friday, 16 July 2004 12:24 (nineteen years ago) link
I reckon the AMG web development team have ignored some of these facets:
― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 16 July 2004 12:28 (nineteen years ago) link
see:http://semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/000029.php
― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 16 July 2004 12:29 (nineteen years ago) link
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Friday, 16 July 2004 12:33 (nineteen years ago) link
― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Friday, 16 July 2004 13:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― o. nate (onate), Friday, 16 July 2004 13:04 (nineteen years ago) link
It's a total disaster...almost like they made it bad on purpose, because things like this don't just happen by accident.
― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Friday, 16 July 2004 13:09 (nineteen years ago) link
― o. nate (onate), Friday, 16 July 2004 13:19 (nineteen years ago) link
I am beginning to buy into the conspiracy theories here, though - the inflated click statistics and the bot-foiling structure. There's nothing else to explain it - certainly not 'we're only a small company' - it hardly takes any resources at all to solicit feedback from core users in a systematic fashion.
― southern lights (southern lights), Friday, 16 July 2004 13:21 (nineteen years ago) link
Dear allmusic fans-
As you’re aware, we’ve recently relaunched the allmusic site with expanded content and functionality and a whole new look. It is an ambitious undertaking and one that hasn’t gone off without some snags. We are working hard to fix the problems and ask for your patience while we work through this transition period.
We’ve been on the net since 1995 providing a free music reference resource. We would hope that through our ten years of service we’ve earned a little patience from our users as we work through the transition to the new site and some of the difficulties we’re experiencing. We’re a small company with small company resources. While we’re flattered by our users’ expectations, our resources are limited. We’re a small company from Ann Arbor, MI, trying to provide a great resource for music fans.
While we can’t respond to every piece of feedback we receive, we do read every bit of it. Feedback from our users is very important. We appreciate the time you take to share your thoughts with us. The following are some updates on the site and some responses to your comments.
SLOW RESPONSE TIMES We are experiencing some response time delays as we did not anticipate the more than doubling of our traffic with the relaunch. We are working to add servers to handle the capacity and to get all of our servers properly balanced. This site is bigger and more complex than the old site. The speed difference won't be very noticeable once we get everything in peak form.
SUPPORT OF NON-IE FOR WINDOWS BROWSERS Optimizing a site of allmusic’s complexity and size for all browsers and operating systems is no small feat. This isn’t a simple “brochure-ware” site of static pages. While we would love to optimize the AMG sites for all browsers and all operating systems, we simply don’t have the necessary resources to do so. Despite some users flattering comparison of our site with that of Google, Amazon and Yahoo!, we are a small company with limited resources. So, we had to pick the most widely used browser by our users (over 87%) to optimize the site for and then work on compatibility issues with the other major browsers as we go forward.
We are concentrating on making the site more accessible through Opera, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari. We know how important it is to our users and we’re moving quickly.
REGISTRATION The allmusic site remains totally FREE to our users and only requires registration for access to new Premium Content. If you are uncomfortable registering, we understand and invite you to continue to use the portion of the site (roughly equivalent to the former site) that does not require registration. But we would like to take a moment to explain why we have introduced registration for Premium Content.
The AMG websites are FREE sites that are marginally supported by only advertising and product sales. To attract advertisers and retailers, we need to provide them with basic demographic information of our users so they can determine if our site is a fit for their products. We provide this information only in the aggregate (i.e. 60% of our users are male) and never pass on any individual user information. Please read our privacy policy for more information. Without these advertisers and retailers, the AMG websites would be out of business. Registration is a common practice among free publishing sites such as the AMG sites (i.e. NY Times, LA Times, etc.) that fund their enterprise through advertising and product sales. AMG is in line with common Internet practices and, as a good Internet citizen, zealously protects the privacy of our users.
TAB FORMAT We realized when we designed the tab system that we would make some folks unhappy, but we felt the trade off was worth it. If we stuck to the one page approach it would limit our ability to add additional information. That design approach (one page) just doesn't scale as we expand content. And it's a real problem with artists with extensive discographies. We think that once folks take some more time on the site, they'll see that there is much more information available now than there was on the old site. The addition of the Songs and Credits tabs are both good examples of information that just wouldn’t be possible in a one page format.
Thanks for all your feedback. Together, we can make our service better than ever.
Sincerely,AMG
Links that appeared on TWX:
A version of AMG that actually works
A potential explanation, for the conspiracy inclined.
― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Friday, 16 July 2004 13:23 (nineteen years ago) link
― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Friday, 16 July 2004 13:26 (nineteen years ago) link
my memory of the web publishing biz from my time in it way back in so if users now have to click three times as many pages as they used to, and therefore "see" three times as many ads as they used to, the site can turn over its ads three times as fast and make three times as much money.
the old days of two or three years ago is that advertisers buy a certain number of clicks when they buy an ad. advertiser gives website money, website keeps ad on site until it's literally been seen X number of times.
though i assume that somewhere along the way the advertisers would start saying "wait a minute..."
― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 16 July 2004 13:28 (nineteen years ago) link
my memory of the web publishing biz from my time in it way back in the old days of two or three years ago is that advertisers buy a certain number of clicks when they buy an ad. advertiser gives website money, website keeps ad on site until it's literally been seen X number of times.
so if users now have to click three times as many pages as they used to, and therefore "see" three times as many ads as they used to, the site can turn over its ads three times as fast and make three times as much money.
― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 16 July 2004 13:29 (nineteen years ago) link
― el sabor de gene (yournullfame), Friday, 16 July 2004 13:30 (nineteen years ago) link
There are a number of ways to buy online advertising - per view (impression), per click, per actual transaction subsequent to click - but in any of these cases, the advertisers are going to be most interested in AMG demonstrating that the people viewing/clicking the ads belong to the demographic/psychographic groups that the advertiser is targeting. They are most likely less intersted in whether or not the site is designed to generate more or less views/clicks . . . they just want qualified people in the numbers that they've negotiated.
― southern lights (southern lights), Friday, 16 July 2004 13:33 (nineteen years ago) link
― mentalist (mentalist), Friday, 16 July 2004 13:36 (nineteen years ago) link
― Bimble (bimble), Friday, 16 July 2004 13:50 (nineteen years ago) link
― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Friday, 16 July 2004 13:54 (nineteen years ago) link
Does "strategic opportunities" actually mean anything, for those versed in corporatespeak?
― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 16 July 2004 13:58 (nineteen years ago) link
― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 16 July 2004 14:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Friday, 16 July 2004 14:03 (nineteen years ago) link
― Bimble (bimble), Friday, 16 July 2004 14:42 (nineteen years ago) link
― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 16 July 2004 14:43 (nineteen years ago) link
― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Friday, 16 July 2004 14:44 (nineteen years ago) link
― Bimble (bimble), Friday, 16 July 2004 14:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― Bimble (bimble), Friday, 16 July 2004 14:47 (nineteen years ago) link
― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 16 July 2004 14:48 (nineteen years ago) link
― Bimble (bimble), Friday, 16 July 2004 14:52 (nineteen years ago) link
The Nine Pillars of Successful Web Teamshttp://www.adaptivepath.com/publications/essays/archives/000242.php
― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 16 July 2004 14:52 (nineteen years ago) link
I wasn't trying to be a smartass, at all. In businesspeak anything involving "strategy" almost always means "buying somebody out."
― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 16 July 2004 14:55 (nineteen years ago) link
Strategy can relate to Organic Growth [without Strategic Acquisition.]
Organic Growthhttp://www.exemplas.com/performance/147_2028.asp
― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 16 July 2004 15:01 (nineteen years ago) link
― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 16 July 2004 15:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 16 July 2004 15:43 (nineteen years ago) link
it's true.
― Gear! (Gear!), Friday, 16 July 2004 15:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 16 July 2004 15:49 (nineteen years ago) link
"strategic opportunities" sounds to me like "surgical strike." funny how corporatespeak and pentagonspeak have so much in common.
i'm not trying to make this amg thing more than it is.
i really liked amg, i thought a bunch of their reviewers were great, and i liked the simple and easy to use interface, even if it sometimes meant long page loads (i.e. for elvis presley). i use a lot of different computers, so it's unfeasible to keep logging in and out, not to mention the fact that the new interface relys heavily on graphics, thus leaving out all of us who still use (sigh) modems. so i would have to say dud, on the available evidence. maybe it'll improve, though.
― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 16 July 2004 15:53 (nineteen years ago) link
― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 16 July 2004 16:03 (nineteen years ago) link
their coverage of Polka---tragic.
― latebloomer (latebloomer), Friday, 16 July 2004 16:05 (nineteen years ago) link
I'll bet this has something to do with Microsoft's coming iTunes ripoff.
― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 16 July 2004 16:08 (nineteen years ago) link
yeah, they always had huge gaps of course, how could they not? the least one could say is that they were always improving, though not at an even pace necessarily. i hope that advance hasn't halted though i suspect it has. better coverage of salsa probably wouldn't show up on the performance reports.
the lies and obfuscation of the (hastily-removed) apologia really seem to signal the end.
― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 16 July 2004 16:10 (nineteen years ago) link
― Gear! (Gear!), Friday, 16 July 2004 16:11 (nineteen years ago) link
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Friday, 16 July 2004 16:22 (nineteen years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 16 July 2004 16:23 (nineteen years ago) link
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 16 July 2004 17:07 (nineteen years ago) link
The old AMG...only a memor-eee...
Memories...Light the corners of my mind...misty water colored memooorieeess of the way we were...
― Bimble (bimble), Friday, 16 July 2004 17:13 (nineteen years ago) link
That's hardly fair - you had less to work with.
― luna (luna.c), Friday, 16 July 2004 17:16 (nineteen years ago) link
http://www.mp3.com
they license a lot of Allmusic's material (although some info is not available), so you can use it instead. it's not as good as the old Allmusic, but it's a lot faster than the new one.
― King Kobra (King Kobra), Friday, 16 July 2004 17:19 (nineteen years ago) link
― King Kobra (King Kobra), Friday, 16 July 2004 20:32 (nineteen years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 16 July 2004 20:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― Bimble (bimble), Friday, 16 July 2004 20:39 (nineteen years ago) link
http://www.allmusic.com/old
until someone changes the directory permissions.
― King Kobra (King Kobra), Friday, 16 July 2004 22:53 (nineteen years ago) link
Especially on looking up Doom Metal. this album i've never heard of got 5 stars from 2000? i downloaded some tracks, it's fairly good, but is it worth 5 stars for such a jokey album?
or is this like that moronic "Who Dat?" thing.
― Andrzej B. (Andrzej B.), Saturday, 17 July 2004 05:21 (nineteen years ago) link
― King Kobra (King Kobra), Saturday, 17 July 2004 06:30 (nineteen years ago) link
Thulsa Doom - Seats Are Soft but the Helmet Is Way Too Tight
― Andrzej B. (Andrzej B.), Saturday, 17 July 2004 09:58 (nineteen years ago) link
i can't afford the time for (and am not impressed by) the new grapics. From the old high content-per-screen site to the new too-many-clicks site, some costing ten seconds, with loads of intermediate rubbish
yeah DUD.so was it too good to be true before, a free lunch ? this new thingie is a real idealogical defeat for the values inherent in indie and so many other musics that AMG (the exception) covers
(can "Premium Users" customise out all this extra baggage with their site preferences ? i haven't had the time to try. i haven't found a "text only" but perhaps it's more reasonable to expect a "text with old-fashioned lo-bandwidth pictures or banners" option)
i'd pay a small-to-reasonable premium (as i do with so many other sites) to avoid most "suggestions" (the pictures) and all "latest" content(the ads) even if i usually don't want to register with _anyone_ connected to the music business. I sure hope AMG doesn't now go down the demographic modelling line just for those advertisers
― george gosset (gegoss), Saturday, 17 July 2004 10:31 (nineteen years ago) link
― george gosset (gegoss), Saturday, 17 July 2004 12:57 (nineteen years ago) link
― artdamages (artdamages), Saturday, 17 July 2004 23:11 (nineteen years ago) link
― Bimble (bimble), Sunday, 18 July 2004 00:29 (nineteen years ago) link
― Aaron W (Aaron W), Sunday, 18 July 2004 00:42 (nineteen years ago) link
― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Sunday, 18 July 2004 00:44 (nineteen years ago) link
― frankE (frankE), Sunday, 18 July 2004 00:45 (nineteen years ago) link
Frank, if you like it more power to ya. I'm never going back. Microsoft's tit doesn't taste good to me.
They could have charged for their service as it was. Big deal, I would have forked over a couple of bucks a month or whatever.
― Bimble (bimble), Sunday, 18 July 2004 00:59 (nineteen years ago) link
According to Alliance Entertainment's press kit:
AMG customers include Barnes &Noble, Wal-Mart, Microsoft, Real Networks,BlueLight.com (Kmart), CDNOW, Best Buy,Circuit City, Blockbuster, Ticketmaster,Yahoo!, AOL’s Spinner and MovieFone,ARTISTdirect/UBL.com, and MTVNetworks Europe.
Are they gonna offend AOL (owner of Netscape) and Yahoo! to get in a monogomous fuck fest Microsoft?
― frankE (frankE), Sunday, 18 July 2004 01:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― Kingfish von Bandersnatch (Kingfish), Sunday, 18 July 2004 04:27 (nineteen years ago) link
― Rock Bastard, Sunday, 18 July 2004 09:36 (nineteen years ago) link
― C0L1N B3CK3TT (Colin Beckett), Sunday, 18 July 2004 12:33 (nineteen years ago) link
― Andrew (enneff), Monday, 19 July 2004 03:50 (nineteen years ago) link
― cs appleby (cs appleby), Monday, 19 July 2004 05:06 (nineteen years ago) link
All the extra clicks, the unnecessary flash, the lack of flow to the pages, the extra scrolling, ugly design (the old one looked so much better!), it doesn't display right in opera, and I could go on and on but much of it's already been mentioned. I liked the compact design of the old site. It was so easy to get information at a glance. I hope they realize how much this sucks and change it soon.
― Amy M., Monday, 19 July 2004 05:09 (nineteen years ago) link
So (you might say), use Safari or something else. And yet, with Safari, my log-in is erratic. Sometimes it "remembers" me, most often it doesn't, so I have to constantly enter my e-mail addy and my password.
― David A. (Davant), Monday, 19 July 2004 06:23 (nineteen years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 19 July 2004 06:35 (nineteen years ago) link
The AMG site has always behaved differently in my browser from most sites, even jealously commercial sites like Amazon. I've always just asumed it's an information gatherer. How else could it be so so slow (as it always has been)? If it's gone upmarket (blah blah about increasing servers etc.) i see no reason at all for it to still be that slow.
That is unless there's still multiple server and client stuff going on during the loads, and since i've crashed the site in a number of ways, i have no reason to assume the site isn't accessing a variety of databases depending on the data. Whose databases ? Clients databases ? Is that an exhaustive list of clients above ?
I can think of a few other organisations who'd be oh so keen to access AMG user data, outfits who could only be either a friend or a foe to AMG.
― RIAA Man (izan), Monday, 19 July 2004 06:47 (nineteen years ago) link
And the speed here is orders of magnitude slower than the previous site, doubtless due to all the extra clicking being undertaken.
It should be used in university courses on how not to design an information based interface.
― mentalist (mentalist), Monday, 19 July 2004 07:36 (nineteen years ago) link
It does, yes. At present, I have no other thoughts to offer on any of this as I had nothing to do with the redesign beyond beta testing briefly -- it worked fine with Safari on my Mac, and I was one of many testers.
I am, in fact, on a Caribbean island and I intend to spend tomorrow afternoon doing nothing but sitting on a beach for seven hours, relaxing in the sun and/or shade and reading a book. Yay me. Seeya all soon!
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 19 July 2004 23:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 19 July 2004 23:09 (nineteen years ago) link
― artdamages (artdamages), Monday, 19 July 2004 23:30 (nineteen years ago) link
So, now that AMG has made itself COMPLETELY FUCKING USELESS, what is the best web alternative??
― chuck, Monday, 19 July 2004 23:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― artdamages (artdamages), Monday, 19 July 2004 23:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― That's the Way (uh huh uh huh) I Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 01:15 (nineteen years ago) link
See, they knew what was wrong with the site -- terrible colors, cheezy unnecessary graphics, 1997 image maps, a generally dated look, etc. But they didn't know what was *right* with it -- very decent information architecture, clear tables of data in readable font sizes, excellent at-a-glance scanability, etc. And in fixing what they thought was wrong, they broke what they didn't know was right. It's a classic novice mistake, really, and from where I sit completely understandable (I'm not much more than a novice myself, though I have purchased a lot of books about this). I was at first incensed that they would slap an "IE optimized" warning on the page, and rightfully so, but they took that down within a day or two, fixed the Mozilla CSS bug, and really seem to be making an effort to make it work the way everyone wants it to. They have, sadly, already married themselves to a design with inherent usability problems -- kind of stumbled backwards into it, really -- but that does not make them bad. It just makes them kind of clueless.
They may have to leave this design up for a year or so, just for consistensy's sake, but it won't last much longer than that, and they will have learned from their mistakes.
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 05:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 06:17 (nineteen years ago) link
Who gives a shit how "cheezy", "1997", or "dated" it supposedly was anyway, though? How do any of those things have to do AT ALL with how GOOD the site is? And in what kind of numbskull's imagination do those adjectives even MEAN anything? And how is that washed-out new lavender color less "terrible" than what was there before? I will never, ever understand those who fall for the scam of "updating" technology for the mere sake of updating it, as long as I live.
― chuck, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 14:11 (nineteen years ago) link
We're trusting these people with our music facts but don't even know the difference between between i.e. and e.g.!!!
― mei (mei), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 15:33 (nineteen years ago) link
I've written an extension for Mozilla Firefox that, when installed, alters the display and functionality of allmusic.com. Specifically, it does the following:
It cleans up the horrible JavaScript-only links sitewide, thus enabling 21st-century browsing techniques such as tabbed browsing and opening links in new windows.
It hides the annoying Flash spinner thing atop each page.
It changes the functionality of the "Read more..." links on band and album detail pages. On the old AMG, band and album pages contained full reviews. Now, they feature only the first few sentences, with a link to "Read more..." on a separate page. The extension changes the functionality of that "Read more..." link so that, instead of taking you to a new page, clicking the link will dynamically load the full band/album review and insert it inline.
― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 16:10 (nineteen years ago) link
>Yeah, get the ten CD install of Free Bltfzpk 5.4x. Don't forget the Excrement 01.1 action web accelerator add-ons, people. And you'll need the CrummyFree compiler, although that usually comes with Bltfzpk. Support is excellent.<
― chuck, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 16:33 (nineteen years ago) link
as for AMG, a conserted effort by all the PCs in China to simultaneously hit on Britney Spears might Mariah-Carey-ify her (eg schoolgirl with mouse ears fried in electrically-lit Xmas-holly romp), duet with Lemmy in an electric chair,.. and maybe creat a ripple in AMG central, whomever that is.
― george gosset (gegoss), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 17:05 (nineteen years ago) link
Well color me a numbskull. It's marketing, is all. Colors. Shades. The emotional appeal of design. Trends and fashions. Frivolous? Yeah, certainly in this case, as it the redesign interferes with the usability of the site. But trendy colors and updated-looking graphics sell adspace. It's not a stupid idea, not if you want to make some scratch off your work.
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 21:40 (nineteen years ago) link
― Chris O., Tuesday, 20 July 2004 22:34 (nineteen years ago) link
i hadn't read the previous few posts, but it didn't take me a second to guess who this came from.
― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 22:52 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 04:52 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ooooh Heaven is a Place on Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 04:54 (nineteen years ago) link
the "read more" thing is a big annoyance that, i imagine, could be easily fixed. perhaps his nedness can convey these constructive criticisms to those in power?
― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 04:58 (nineteen years ago) link
― gem (trisk), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 04:59 (nineteen years ago) link
― Gear! (Gear!), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 05:18 (nineteen years ago) link
― gem (trisk), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 05:20 (nineteen years ago) link
― george gosset (gegoss), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 08:17 (nineteen years ago) link
They could be conveyed, but I have no guarantee they'll be acted upon.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 11:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 12:08 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 13:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 13:48 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 13:49 (nineteen years ago) link
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 16:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 16:31 (nineteen years ago) link
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 17:08 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 17:27 (nineteen years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 17:37 (nineteen years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 17:39 (nineteen years ago) link
JESUS H! And I was just randomly guessing!
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 17:39 (nineteen years ago) link
You have the special 'anti-Canadian' AMG virus.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 17:40 (nineteen years ago) link
I still can't get the links to respond -- i click and, nothing (x10).. grr..
i changed my setting as per the instructions -- AMG is now my very first "trusted site" even , which seems like a somewhat mighty concession in itself, but still no "search" or "go" buttons seem to do anything -- my firewall blocks pop-ups, so is that the problem ? i hit a button and no bytes even get sent. It just really doesn't like me.
is there something really simple i should know ? is this in permanent revolution mode still ? it feels like i have to do something like put in "a quarter" or some such thing to get the ball rolling .. am i just not on their demograph radar ? have my callous comments regarding the new site up-thread resulted in designers setting me up my very own "front door" ? essentially, wtf ??
― george gosset (gegoss), Saturday, 31 July 2004 18:58 (nineteen years ago) link
― artdamages (artdamages), Saturday, 31 July 2004 19:10 (nineteen years ago) link
feasible ? they'll have me if you put in a good word won't they Ned ?
― george gosset (gegoss), Saturday, 31 July 2004 19:18 (nineteen years ago) link
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 23:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― Don, Tuesday, 24 August 2004 23:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 00:56 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 00:57 (nineteen years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 01:16 (nineteen years ago) link
also, when an album's got a glowing write-up (with a few song mentions) but is missing tracklisting...maybe they've sorted that now though?
― Paul (scifisoul), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 01:36 (nineteen years ago) link
― Vinnie (vprabhu), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 12:52 (nineteen years ago) link
Am I even supposed to have one?
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 12:58 (nineteen years ago) link
(Seriously, I was asked to send a bio when I first signed up; maybe that was something the started asking after you were already onboard?)
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 13:17 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 13:23 (nineteen years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 13:39 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 13:40 (nineteen years ago) link
― Bimble (bimble), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 16:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― Leeeter van den Hoogenband (Leee), Sunday, 3 October 2004 19:04 (nineteen years ago) link
http://www.allmusic.com
has it been hacked ?
― mark e (mark e), Friday, 5 November 2004 10:23 (nineteen years ago) link
Through traffic monitoring of our websites we have identified your IP address accessing allmusic.com at a rate and speed inconsistent with the noncommercial and personal use permitted by our site's Terms of Service. As a result, further access to allmusic.com has been denied. Because IP addresses can be shared by numerous users, your access may be being denied based on the aggregate use of your IP address rather than your own individual use. To ensure that this is not the case, simply create your own individual user account by becoming a Registered Member of allmusic. [Click on the “Register” button in the upper right hand corner of the home page.] Once you’ve become a Registered Member and are logged in, you will once again have full access to allmusic, and will continue to have access, as long as your usage remains consistent with our Terms of Service. If you are already a Registered Member of allmusic, simply ensure that you are logged in when you use the site. Thank you.
Are they forcing me into becoming a registered member now?
― the todster (the todster), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 12:18 (nineteen years ago) link
Occasionally visit to see if things have improved (no) AMG may as well not exist for me anymore.
― i used to use AMG, Wednesday, 23 March 2005 12:39 (nineteen years ago) link
― earlnash, Wednesday, 23 March 2005 14:39 (nineteen years ago) link
― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 16:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― the todster (the todster), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 16:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― What we want? Sex with T.V. stars! What you want? Ian Riese-Moraine! (Eastern Ma, Wednesday, 23 March 2005 16:21 (nineteen years ago) link
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 18:07 (nineteen years ago) link
― Keith C (kcraw916), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 18:25 (nineteen years ago) link
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 18:27 (nineteen years ago) link
― Stormy Davis (diamond), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 18:28 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 18:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 18:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― DJ Martian (djmartian), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 19:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 19:15 (nineteen years ago) link
I prefer rateyourmusic:
superior information architecture / information design / usabilityfaster more uptodate content re forthcoming releasesadded features such as: top rated albums by yearhttp://rateyourmusic.com/albums_by_year
ability to have your account on RYM and create your own content [such as lists, reviews]e.g my list for:
2005 Albumshttp://rateyourmusic.com/lists/list_view/list_id_is_14969
― DJ Martian (djmartian), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 19:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― The JaXoN 5 (JasonD), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 19:47 (nineteen years ago) link
― What we want? Sex with T.V. stars! What you want? Ian Riese-Moraine! (Eastern Ma, Wednesday, 23 March 2005 20:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― David A. (Davant), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 22:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 22:41 (nineteen years ago) link
― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 2 June 2005 02:19 (eighteen years ago) link
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 2 June 2005 03:47 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 2 June 2005 04:29 (eighteen years ago) link
― Deric W. Haircare (Deric W. Haircare), Thursday, 2 June 2005 15:48 (eighteen years ago) link
― JohnDSinclair, Thursday, 28 July 2005 09:40 (eighteen years ago) link
Does a worthy alternative to this site exist?
― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 28 July 2005 10:55 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 July 2005 12:41 (eighteen years ago) link
― banana squad (dayvidday), Tuesday, 18 April 2006 14:21 (eighteen years ago) link
allmusic.com redesigned again and it's being a turd
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 18 April 2006 14:26 (eighteen years ago) link
...and yet another Allmusic revision. I think it gets worse every time. Still, very useful information, too bad someone can't help them develop a great interface.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 17 July 2013 13:59 (ten years ago) link
what happened to Rovi?
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 14:05 (ten years ago) link
i'm not a fan, site looks like a generic database and search gives you a lot of irrelevant results. in the past it'd usually pull up the correct band or album right away.
― Spectrum, Wednesday, 17 July 2013 15:53 (ten years ago) link
I thought last year's redesign was the best it's been since the original layout a decade ago.
And away all of that goes with this most recent redesign. As much as some people hated last year's reboot, at least it worked. This new one is actually broken in its functionality.
It's pretty bad.
― Austin, Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:23 (ten years ago) link
jaw-droppingly bad
― the late great, Thursday, 18 July 2013 02:23 (ten years ago) link
actually, i do like how the similar albums tab is a bunch of album covers
― the late great, Thursday, 18 July 2013 02:26 (ten years ago) link
MOG LINKS
― bando calrissian (Whiney G. Weingarten), Thursday, 18 July 2013 02:43 (ten years ago) link
MOG’s in the house; if you fakin’, get outMOG’s in the house; if you fakin’, get outWhat is it? Yeah, it’s the M-O-GAnd we some real-ass hustlers, you better believe usYeah, and we takin’ the crownSo if you fakin’, get out, ’cause we ain’t playin’ aroundWho is it, man? It’s the M-O-GAnd we some real-ass hustlers, you better believe usYeah, and we takin’ the crownSo if you fakin’, get out, ’cause we ain’t playin’ aroundThe impostors launch their flash but they just ain’t got no soulSilicon Valley geeks in it just for the doughThey don’t know Jimi from Joni, don’t know Dylan from NeilThey just know what’s on the Billboard, and they think it is realWe’re sick of your bullshit and your hype and your cheeseI mean come on, you are not going to last – bro, please‘Cause when the MOG dog bites, it’ll never let goIt’s gonna tear your ass down, make you reap what you sewI’m not going to name names, suckas know who you areY’all are lackin’ in the game, man, not up to parWhat we do with 12 people takes you 210You can never reach the level of the MOG, my friendY’all should’ve known better, music isn’t the sameAs biotech, software, and video gamesIf you fakin’, get out, because we takin’ the crownIf you fakin’, get out, because we takin’ the crownYeah, it’s the M-O-GAnd we some real-ass hustlers, you better believe usYeah, and we takin’ the crownSo if you fakin’, get out, ’cause we ain’t playin’ aroundWho is it, man? It’s the M-O-GAnd we some real-ass hustlers, you better believe usYeah, and we takin’ the crownSo if you fakin’, get out, ’cause we ain’t playin’ aroundThis game is not for suckers, you stupid motherfuckersSo if you are a sucker, get out. Bounce.Now. And start selling some hedge fundsYou guys are snakes in the grass, not legendsY’all might have got bigger way mo’ faster than usBut all the real music fans see through your B.S.So take your notes and try to copy, we ain’t chippin’You know we been up in the game for years like PippenSo take your Soulja Boy, your Fergie and your LohanWe want Nas, Jay-Z and SnomanAnd yes – you will die a slow deathAnd M-O-G will be there, we will take your last breathWe gonna cover you with dirt and cover you in the bogAnd swear no one will remember you like spiral the frog
The impostors launch their flash but they just ain’t got no soulSilicon Valley geeks in it just for the doughThey don’t know Jimi from Joni, don’t know Dylan from NeilThey just know what’s on the Billboard, and they think it is realWe’re sick of your bullshit and your hype and your cheeseI mean come on, you are not going to last – bro, please‘Cause when the MOG dog bites, it’ll never let goIt’s gonna tear your ass down, make you reap what you sewI’m not going to name names, suckas know who you areY’all are lackin’ in the game, man, not up to parWhat we do with 12 people takes you 210You can never reach the level of the MOG, my friendY’all should’ve known better, music isn’t the sameAs biotech, software, and video gamesIf you fakin’, get out, because we takin’ the crownIf you fakin’, get out, because we takin’ the crown
Yeah, it’s the M-O-GAnd we some real-ass hustlers, you better believe usYeah, and we takin’ the crownSo if you fakin’, get out, ’cause we ain’t playin’ aroundWho is it, man? It’s the M-O-GAnd we some real-ass hustlers, you better believe usYeah, and we takin’ the crownSo if you fakin’, get out, ’cause we ain’t playin’ around
This game is not for suckers, you stupid motherfuckersSo if you are a sucker, get out. Bounce.Now. And start selling some hedge fundsYou guys are snakes in the grass, not legendsY’all might have got bigger way mo’ faster than usBut all the real music fans see through your B.S.So take your notes and try to copy, we ain’t chippin’You know we been up in the game for years like PippenSo take your Soulja Boy, your Fergie and your LohanWe want Nas, Jay-Z and SnomanAnd yes – you will die a slow deathAnd M-O-G will be there, we will take your last breathWe gonna cover you with dirt and cover you in the bogAnd swear no one will remember you like spiral the frog
http://idolator.com/5213231/mog-leaps-into-battle-weaksauce-rhymes-in-tow
― bando calrissian (Whiney G. Weingarten), Thursday, 18 July 2013 02:44 (ten years ago) link
Selena Gomez’s 10 Best Selfies
― markers, Thursday, 18 July 2013 02:53 (ten years ago) link
They've had MOG, Spotify and Rdio links on the site for at least the past year. Seems iTunes has been added with this most recent redesign.
A redesign which is awful, by the way.
― Austin, Thursday, 18 July 2013 04:44 (ten years ago) link
cool new layout, cool new radio buttons
― Remember! The cormorant is a big brrd. It has got a long neck. (unregistered), Monday, 2 September 2013 01:16 (ten years ago) link
album art mouseover: 'click to embiggen'
somewhere back there in the permanent redesign salt mine there is a human being at work
― j., Wednesday, 16 April 2014 02:06 (ten years ago) link
David Jeffries gives all rap albums a 3.5 and it's really fuckin dumb. Kellman needs to review more of those
― nova, Wednesday, 16 April 2014 03:35 (ten years ago) link
what's with this User Reviews tab? are they competing with rateyourmusic now?
― stoomcursus rockisme (unregistered), Monday, 29 June 2015 23:17 (eight years ago) link
http://www.allmusic.com/album/ok-computer-mw0000024289/user-reviews
― stoomcursus rockisme (unregistered), Monday, 29 June 2015 23:18 (eight years ago) link
Even today, OK Computer is still relevant in the wake of Social Media and the decreased emphasis on human interaction in a world rule by massive companies.
― rahrah avis (imago), Monday, 29 June 2015 23:28 (eight years ago) link
otm
― stoomcursus rockisme (unregistered), Monday, 29 June 2015 23:29 (eight years ago) link
Oh, wonderful! Yet more music reviews by people who clearly shouldn't be doing them. Don't get me wrong, everyone's entitled to an opinion, art is subjective, rating is arbitrary and so on and so forth. However, if I want plumbing advice, I don't ask a fucking dentist. As much as everyone is entitled to an opinion and willing to give their opinion, only an idiot would treat all opinions equally. I look forward to people giving 1-star reviews of canonical albums and writing "CUZ IT'Z SHIT! LOLOLOLOLOL!!1!!"
― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Monday, 29 June 2015 23:51 (eight years ago) link
http://www.juniordentist.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/dentist_patient_nightmare1.jpg
― rahrah avis (imago), Monday, 29 June 2015 23:57 (eight years ago) link
^ Yeah, that about sums it up!
― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Monday, 29 June 2015 23:58 (eight years ago) link
sure does
― rahrah avis (imago), Monday, 29 June 2015 23:59 (eight years ago) link
in theory I have nothing against amateur review sites. I use rateyourmusic a lot to discover obscure albums, and I'm really not concerned with whether the reviews are publication quality — all I ask is a short semi-literate blurb to the effect that 'this album exists, here's what it sounds like, it might be worth listening to' *dashes off to slsk or youtube or blogs to track it down*. there's a lot of music that professional writers have never reviewed (on AMG or elsewhere), so I'm willing to wade through a lot of shoddy amateur writing and batshit opinions on rym to find a handful of new artists I wouldn't have discovered otherwise.
however I have a feeling AMG's amateur reviewers will mostly tackle canonical dadrock stuff that's already been written about ad nauseum rather than filling holes in AMG's database, so I don't see this new feature amounting to much.
― stoomcursus rockisme (unregistered), Tuesday, 30 June 2015 00:41 (eight years ago) link
I look forward to people giving 1-star reviews of canonical albums and writing "CUZ IT'Z SHIT! LOLOLOLOLOL!!1!!"
this is the opposite of the problem of "amateur" reviews
― 2 jazz boys 1 jazz cup (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 30 June 2015 05:57 (eight years ago) link
unregistered completely otm and true to my own experience
nv otm as well, rly
― rahrah avis (imago), Tuesday, 30 June 2015 09:42 (eight years ago) link
seriously.the surround ads on the opening page are making getting into the site impossible.yes yes i know i can use chrome/ghostery, but i have started using edge as W10 is a lot happier resourcewise when using Edge.but, the fact is, allmusic is virtually unusable in edge.
― mark e, Thursday, 19 November 2015 20:55 (eight years ago) link
allmusic's 'similar albums' recommendations are quite odd sometimes. i just clicked out of interest to see what they thought would be similar to prince's dirty mind, and they advised i listen to maze, roy ayers, and midnight starr (all of which are fine and good, but not really similar to DM!)
― StillAdvance, Friday, 29 April 2016 09:13 (seven years ago) link
Went to browse the site just now and came up with this:http://i.imgur.com/nkDdtbw.png
Which renders the site unusable on a desktop.
― Austin, Wednesday, 17 August 2016 21:50 (seven years ago) link
agreed.
― mark e, Wednesday, 17 August 2016 22:45 (seven years ago) link
They must really be hurting in the budget department.
Sad.
― Austin, Thursday, 18 August 2016 00:24 (seven years ago) link
Working OK for me (uh-oh, no Ad Blocker)
― dow, Thursday, 18 August 2016 00:53 (seven years ago) link
grossest ad blocker blocker i have ever experienced
― j., Thursday, 18 August 2016 02:36 (seven years ago) link
yeah, this is the first time I've been asked to disable Adblock and Ghostery simultaneously. not sure why they've taken a sudden interest in my browsing habits but I guess I should be flattered
― hippie lady from california who loves that god (unregistered), Thursday, 18 August 2016 03:15 (seven years ago) link
apparently All Media Network was acquired by an adware/malware/spyware company called Blinkx in April 2015, which explains a lot...
― hippie lady from california who loves that god (unregistered), Thursday, 18 August 2016 03:19 (seven years ago) link
sad. allmusic used to be the spot!
― it's sort of a layered stunt (sheesh), Thursday, 18 August 2016 03:52 (seven years ago) link
Just removed it from my bookmarks for the first time in nearly twenty years as an internet user.
RIP AllMusic.
― Austin, Thursday, 18 August 2016 04:19 (seven years ago) link
oh bummer, this sucks.
also just realized that i can no longer even remember what it used to look like, back when it was a good functional website in addition to an incredibly deep, rich storehouse of information. :-/
― Silence, followed by unintelligible stammering. (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 18 August 2016 04:49 (seven years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/WMA0wkq.jpg
from 2001, courtesy of archive.org
― it's sort of a layered stunt (sheesh), Thursday, 18 August 2016 06:08 (seven years ago) link
for the curious, here's what it looks like today on mobile (goin' mobile) while you're attempting to look up the linear notes for a latter-day gentle giant record: http://i.imgur.com/vut5bcv.jpg
― it's sort of a layered stunt (sheesh), Thursday, 18 August 2016 07:05 (seven years ago) link
#TMRW
would someone just kill me already
― it's sort of a layered stunt (sheesh), Thursday, 18 August 2016 07:08 (seven years ago) link
in 2001 i was still usually viewing it on a text-only browser so all those crazy yellow tags are news to me
― j., Thursday, 18 August 2016 07:51 (seven years ago) link
seems as though most of us are pretty old news, where's the mod that handles board descriptions
― it's sort of a layered stunt (sheesh), Thursday, 18 August 2016 07:59 (seven years ago) link
usually give entitled adblock crybabies short shrift but the allmusic ads are just insanely obnoxious, and purposely so. idk how anyone can think this model works
― r|t|c, Thursday, 18 August 2016 11:07 (seven years ago) link
love this gall on the paid subscription intro page
Improved Site SpeedWe work with dozens of ad networks to get the most relevant ads for you. By removing these you will get a vastly improved experience.
― r|t|c, Thursday, 18 August 2016 11:08 (seven years ago) link
usually give entitled adblock crybabies short shrift but
lol hubris
― glumdalclitch, Thursday, 18 August 2016 11:11 (seven years ago) link
lol extreme case! putz
far worse on desktop than it is mobile so they're p obv targeting a particular victim
― r|t|c, Thursday, 18 August 2016 11:12 (seven years ago) link
Wow, this pop-up basically chases you away for good doesn't it?
What's this SupportFreeContent plugin it wants you to install?
― Le Bateau Ivre, Thursday, 18 August 2016 11:51 (seven years ago) link
Aside from the horrendous user experience, has any of the actual content gone away? It gave the impression that it's more incomplete, but maybe that's just the perception as it's just more difficult to get at the information.
― Fastnbulbous, Thursday, 18 August 2016 14:21 (seven years ago) link
Okay, I admit in my memory, old-school AMG was not quite that hideous. But it worked, and very fast too...
― Silence, followed by unintelligible stammering. (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 18 August 2016 14:40 (seven years ago) link
AMG seems ... exactly like it's been for the last few years? The ads are obnoxious, but I'm not having any more difficulty finding content or noticing any content that is missing.
― Brad C., Thursday, 18 August 2016 15:48 (seven years ago) link
^this
― Deneb on Ice (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 18 August 2016 15:55 (seven years ago) link
AMG still works well. type in anything you're looking for into google like this:
allmusic.com Hoobastank best of hoobastank
it's always near the top.
― I look forward to hearing from you shortly, (Karl Malone), Thursday, 18 August 2016 15:57 (seven years ago) link
there is no reason to ever visit the allmusic.com front page
i don't understand why anyone would opt for allmusic when there's discogs. what am i missing?
― bagging area (map), Thursday, 18 August 2016 16:00 (seven years ago) link
Bios? Album reviews from ppl who can write?
― Le Bateau Ivre, Thursday, 18 August 2016 16:04 (seven years ago) link
Just as long as they haven't done any harm to Ned.
― Deneb on Ice (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 18 August 2016 16:06 (seven years ago) link
^^ otm.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Thursday, 18 August 2016 16:06 (seven years ago) link
― Le Bateau Ivre
that erlewine "goats head soup" review, that's a real winner
― a confederacy of lampreys (rushomancy), Thursday, 18 August 2016 16:11 (seven years ago) link
use a private window, it turns off ad-block and tracking cookies get deleted
― Einstein, Kazanga, Sitar (abanana), Thursday, 18 August 2016 16:12 (seven years ago) link
Writing from my isolation chamber I wish to say oh wait.
I mean, I do use Discogs as a specific tool for purchasing and collection organizing, very handy with that. But yeah...no reviews, unless you count comments.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 18 August 2016 16:13 (seven years ago) link
^ This. The two aren't really comparable imo, not in how I use both anyway. I've enough issues with allmusic but to be fair, it has taught me a huge lot. Clicking on artists names and reading bios, discovering links between musicians especially. I went online in 1995 and it was already around! Discogs is great, but serves a very different purpose for me, mainly the marketplace and pressing-info. Discogs satisfies the completist in me when it comes to certain artists I truly want to own everything from, but for the information it's still allmusic all the way tbh.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Thursday, 18 August 2016 16:20 (seven years ago) link
i just wanted to see which beatnuts albums were good : /
― j., Thursday, 18 August 2016 16:23 (seven years ago) link
Discogs has definitely been handy for me in terms of filling gaps in compilation series this year -- and at a good rate too. The drill down on specifics makes it handier in comparison to, say, Amazon Marketplace, and while I do order from both regularly as well as crosschecking in terms of price, generally Discogs gets the nod precisely because I can find more things, often obscure ones, in comparison. Good deals seem to turn up more often on Discogs too, but often in a fluke sense -- still, when that means half off of an out of print box set, hey.
But again, the AMG is not set up for that and does not exist for that. A fusion of the two would be an interesting site indeed, but I feel it would be overkill, perhaps?
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 18 August 2016 16:24 (seven years ago) link
I think that would be overkill, yes. They are different beasts and I prefer them to stay that way?
― Le Bateau Ivre, Thursday, 18 August 2016 16:26 (seven years ago) link
ok thanks, i was wondering if i was actually missing something. i've never had any use for 'consumer guide' reviews. bios i can usually get better / more info from wikipedia.
― bagging area (map), Thursday, 18 August 2016 16:29 (seven years ago) link
I can see that. Tbf it's also just something I got used to, from since before Wikipedia ever existed. Maybe their bios are better now?
― Le Bateau Ivre, Thursday, 18 August 2016 16:32 (seven years ago) link
The AMG books were a welcome replacement for my tattered Trouser Press guides for bathroom reading 15 years ago. Is there anybody working on print compendiums like this anymore?
(Because, if there's one thing I want in my bathroom, its Ned.)
― no ends, only meanness (Sanpaku), Friday, 19 August 2016 18:51 (seven years ago) link
Ah, print record guides! Ah, humanity!
― Deneb on Ice (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 19 August 2016 18:55 (seven years ago) link
I've I've found rateyourmusic.com has replaced Allmusic for me.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 19 August 2016 19:21 (seven years ago) link
rym has this kind of "wikipedia" thing going for it, with all the benefits and problems that entails. it's true that of late i've found more music there than i have on ilx, which used to be my go-to place for music.
― a confederacy of lampreys (rushomancy), Friday, 19 August 2016 21:21 (seven years ago) link
there are some cool lists on rym, that's mostly how i browse it
― brimstead, Friday, 19 August 2016 22:47 (seven years ago) link
Because, if there's one thing I want in my bathroom, its Ned.
Teh passion.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 20 August 2016 00:35 (seven years ago) link
there are some good lists, but so many of them are totally free of any sort of further explanation or context, and when they contain thousands of entries it gets exhausting.
i do the genre charts a lot, particularly when i'm looking for the most acclaimed works in a genre i'm not familiar with. occasionally i make lists but it's pretty tedious work and my tolerance for tedium is in direct proportion to how much i'm getting paid for it.
― a confederacy of lampreys (rushomancy), Saturday, 20 August 2016 00:52 (seven years ago) link
Because, if there's one thing I want in my bathroom, its Ned.Teh passion.― Ned Raggett, Saturday, August 20, 2016 12:35 AM (1 hour ago)
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, August 20, 2016 12:35 AM (1 hour ago)
― Deneb on Ice (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 20 August 2016 02:22 (seven years ago) link
RYM: useful in theory. The community is the problem. I got on one of the narcissist mods' bad side a few years ago and got banned as a result, and now they ban me any time I re-register, like I'm on a "WANTED" list. Doesn't even matter if I use a new IP, someone recognizes my pretty specific taste and alerts the mod I offended, lol
― punksishippies, Saturday, 20 August 2016 02:31 (seven years ago) link
I just use RYM as a little corner of the internet to ramble semi-coherently about stuff I've heard. I've never had trouble w/ mods since I mostly keep to myself but the general userbase kind of annoys me sometimes. Occasionally if I'm really bored I look at the forum, and it really makes me appreciate how (largely) peaceful ILM is - not that RYM is the worst by a long shot but there's only so many times you can read some arsehole in his early twenties spouting received wisdom as Objective Fact before you want to punch the screen.
― ultros ultros-ghali, Saturday, 20 August 2016 13:37 (seven years ago) link
the reason i've tended to give the rym forums a wide berth is that i think i'm maybe a little too much of an elitist for them. they're just full of people asking dubious questions in garbled english, people arguing about "SJWs", people talking about their drugs, people who won't shut up about dream theater and/or radiohead. that's more brain filtering than i'm up for most of the time. it's too "internet".
but they're kids, you know! that's how kids are.
― a confederacy of lampreys (rushomancy), Saturday, 20 August 2016 16:08 (seven years ago) link
Plus from what I've gathered, RYM is nothing compared to /mu/ when it comes to insufferable kids talking about music.
― MarkoP, Saturday, 20 August 2016 16:59 (seven years ago) link
not from what i've gathered, but i've also gathered that it's got a lot of overspill from /mu/
― a confederacy of lampreys (rushomancy), Saturday, 20 August 2016 17:14 (seven years ago) link
RYM is right in the middle of the venn diagram of /mu/ and tumblr
― punksishippies, Saturday, 20 August 2016 18:06 (seven years ago) link
god RYM is another internet reification of awful opinions into something pretending to be Truth
― Herodotus Reading (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 20 August 2016 18:10 (seven years ago) link
dunno about the forums, just mean the concept and the lists, the lists
Unfiltered lists from RYM reflect overrepresented demographics (there's a lot of metal and prog, for example). The "custom chart" and friends/favorites functions on RYM are essential for getting lists that are closer to my own tastes (an intersection of shambhala, indie 'gaze, avant-jazz, etc). But adding/culling favorites to get a better poll of people like me is really time consuming.
― no ends, only meanness (Sanpaku), Saturday, 20 August 2016 20:09 (seven years ago) link
i do see internet culture in general a little bit differently, that advocacy for "truth" long ago ceased being part of it. the "ha ha only serious" ethos dates back to at least the '80s, but only lately have the 4chan alt-right started applying it to racism, for instance. the pretense here is not "truth" but "lulz".
lists in the internet era are imo largely an exercise in recontextualization, a digital outgrowth of mixtapes not vulnerable to dmca takedowns, a necessary evil in an age defined by data overload and sorely lacking in understanding, possibly a first step towards that elusive understanding, but in few minds a substitute for it.
rym for me is good for the would-be omnilisteners, people who have indifference to genre ingrained in their professed ethos, although seldom if ever in practice, as well is, really, for the genre obsessives with a completist bent. there's this one guy in particular who has a deep, deep obsession with midwestern aor/prog, which is not a genre i have a particular love for, but his deep love for the music is contagious. that's social music, i can get behind that.
i'm at a point where i can regularly get good stuff out of that site by basically poking it with a stick a little bit.
― a confederacy of lampreys (rushomancy), Saturday, 20 August 2016 20:42 (seven years ago) link
>there's a lot of metal and prog
Well... the RYM charts are big on buttmetal but all the good stuff's unrepresented. There's a small clique that knows what's up but, like, Death's 'Symbolic' being the top rated death metal album on their charts just gives me the heebie-jeebies
― punksishippies, Saturday, 20 August 2016 21:04 (seven years ago) link
Rate Your Music has always been a major indicator to me of people who think they are a lot more knowledgeable than they actually are. Like, it strikes me as being for people who want to intellectualize music over just enjoying it.
― Austin, Saturday, 20 August 2016 22:11 (seven years ago) link
You're probably all mostly right in your criticism, but I reckon I should probably speak up for the only site I spend more time on than ILX - there's plenty of users who make the site worth using and it's a great place to actually discover stuff (far better than here if I'm honest) especially if you're willing to read a little bit. Just do what I do and ignore charts, the consensus is always turgid and bland as fuck no matter where you are. Just look at those Acclaimed Music polls that we're running.
― ultros ultros-ghali, Sunday, 21 August 2016 00:24 (seven years ago) link
my least favorite thing about RYM are the users who just discovered & started identifying with "poptimism" this year and are really parochial about it... I'll take all the objective elitists in the world over them.
― punksishippies, Sunday, 21 August 2016 00:28 (seven years ago) link
yeah i mean people can bag on the site all they want to but i just found five great records there in the last hour without really trying.
― a confederacy of lampreys (rushomancy), Sunday, 21 August 2016 00:40 (seven years ago) link
Using the RYM charts is definitely improved for me by filtering out genres I don't care much about.
― Blowout Coombes (President Keyes), Sunday, 21 August 2016 17:28 (seven years ago) link
I guess I don't understand why everyone is talking about it like it's dead? I just went there and looked up the debut album of the forgotten power pop band Artful Dodger and it seemed p much the same as it's been for awhile?
― Pull your head on out your hippy haze (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 22 August 2016 22:09 (seven years ago) link
Doesn't work if you use a certain ad blocker, I guess?
― brimstead, Monday, 22 August 2016 22:21 (seven years ago) link
Oh, I don't have an ad blocker on at work but it's fine the ads weren't too bad but some ppl are really babies about any ads I guess
― Pull your head on out your hippy haze (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 22 August 2016 22:23 (seven years ago) link
anyway just try it you will be fine everyone and reading a review of a post-peak steve winwood album before you know it!
I DONT WANNA
― j., Monday, 22 August 2016 22:24 (seven years ago) link
arc of a diver bro read that shit
― Pull your head on out your hippy haze (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 22 August 2016 22:25 (seven years ago) link
I gorged myself on AMG in high school, haven't been able to stand the design since
― brimstead, Monday, 22 August 2016 22:27 (seven years ago) link
Would dig a collected AMG works of Andy kellman or Ned raggett book
― brimstead, Monday, 22 August 2016 22:28 (seven years ago) link
Too kind.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 22 August 2016 22:41 (seven years ago) link
The Collec-Ned Works, Vol. 1
― Silence, followed by unintelligible stammering. (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 23 August 2016 00:10 (seven years ago) link
compnednium
― j., Tuesday, 23 August 2016 02:04 (seven years ago) link
The AMG Omnedbus
― it's sort of a layered stunt (sheesh), Tuesday, 23 August 2016 02:16 (seven years ago) link
― Deneb on Ice (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 23 August 2016 02:18 (seven years ago) link
The Consumned Guide
― Shinzō Abe as Super Mario (Sanpaku), Tuesday, 23 August 2016 23:10 (seven years ago) link
Tempting ideas.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 23 August 2016 23:11 (seven years ago) link
Since Allmusic is now blocking people with ad blockers I would like to restrict Allmusic from appearing in my search results for album reviews. Is that simple to do?
― brotherlovesdub, Wednesday, 24 August 2016 01:13 (seven years ago) link
i think if you type "-allmusic.com" (not including the quotation marks) it'll exclude it.
― brimstead, Wednesday, 24 August 2016 01:17 (seven years ago) link
on google anyway.
― brimstead, Wednesday, 24 August 2016 01:18 (seven years ago) link
so just preface it with a dash in other words.. or something
A Sentimental Neducationxp
― Nobodaddy's Fule (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 24 August 2016 04:49 (seven years ago) link
Ned, Just Admit It: Raggett on Cali Punk
― chicken lit (rip van wanko), Wednesday, 24 August 2016 04:55 (seven years ago) link
RYM users, can you elaborate a little on how you find good music there? This is what I do whenever I'm there: browse through some lists, click an album title I don't know, read some reviews, check out YouTube for some tracks. Is that it, or are there better ways to find more stuff?
― ArchCarrier, Wednesday, 24 August 2016 15:42 (seven years ago) link
i do it just slightly differently. i look for albums i find interesting and like, see what lists they're in on the sidebar, click on the lists with interesting looking titles, browse through the lists to see if they're interesting, and then hit youtube for the ones that have potential (sometimes based on the cover as not all of them have reviews). sometimes i'll find users whose reviews i find interesting and see what other records they like that i haven't heard of.
― a confederacy of lampreys (rushomancy), Wednesday, 24 August 2016 15:51 (seven years ago) link
Arch: Over the past 4-5 years, I've "curated" a list of about 700 RYM users with sympatico tastes. I'll find them from among those who highly rate obscure albums/singles I love, check to see that they have made over 1000 ratings with a diverse spread of scores, then add them as a "favorite" (a nonconsensual friend). When some I find some release highly overrated "by my friends" compared to my tastes, I'll cull the raters responsible (which the interface doesn't exactly facilitate). Over time, my favorites list has stabilized and pretty closely reflects the mix of genres I care about. Every few months I'll run a custom chart of current year releases "As rated by my friends", usually excluding parent genres I've zero interest in. Import into a spreadsheet, cut out low rated but popular (and hence, ranked) releases, or in subgenres I couldn't exclude (eg, I can't exclude "Indie Rock" on the site because I'm interested in shoegaze, which is considered a child genre). That leaves me with 2-300 releases to sample on YT etc.
― Shinzō Abe as Super Mario (Sanpaku), Wednesday, 24 August 2016 19:50 (seven years ago) link
Thanks you two, that sounds... promising.
Sanpaku, is there a way to keep up with the ratings of your favorite users instead of having to generate a big list every so often?
― ArchCarrier, Thursday, 25 August 2016 06:54 (seven years ago) link
User ratings are incorporated in the rankings once every two weeks or so, and you can easily just click your bookmarked custom chart query (I have em for albums, eps and singles in my browser). There's a running sidebar of reviews from individual friends on one's "homepage". But there's no way of looking at how friends in the aggregate have rated releases for the past month or such (like, say, anydecentmusic). The reason I have to dig so far down is that it's the only way of finding obscure but good August (etc.) releases when the chart is already crowded with releases from the past 7 months.
― Shinzō Abe as Super Mario (Sanpaku), Thursday, 25 August 2016 13:19 (seven years ago) link
Cool, I was browsing the site earlier today and I already found two great songs I hadn't heard before ("When It's Over" by the Wipers, and "Talk About the Weather" by Red Lorry Yellow Lorry). Time to register an account!
― ArchCarrier, Thursday, 25 August 2016 18:14 (seven years ago) link
.. and "Talk About the Weather" by Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
good call.
― mark e, Thursday, 25 August 2016 18:31 (seven years ago) link
The Ad Blocker blocker has been removed.
― Austin, Monday, 29 August 2016 22:27 (seven years ago) link
no it hasn't
― j., Tuesday, 30 August 2016 02:04 (seven years ago) link
Huh. Well it has been on my end.
(using Firefox)
― Austin, Tuesday, 30 August 2016 04:24 (seven years ago) link
hmm, I use Firefox too, but the adblocker warning pops up the instant I enable Adblock Plus or Ghostery.
― hippie lady from california who loves that god (unregistered), Tuesday, 30 August 2016 04:29 (seven years ago) link
Try Ublock Origin instead of Adblock Plus - it's better and much less bloated.
― ArchCarrier, Tuesday, 30 August 2016 07:41 (seven years ago) link
It seems a bit intermittent. I get the pop up on Chrome at work, but not on Chrome at home, and they both have ABP installed.
― Just noise and screaming and no musical value at all. (Colonel Poo), Tuesday, 30 August 2016 16:20 (seven years ago) link
ffs I added allmusic to my Ublock whitelist but it still won't let me into the site. Grrrr.
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Wednesday, 31 August 2016 20:41 (seven years ago) link
Haven't had any problems with Ublock for months, but since this morning I'm seeing the notice again. They must have changed something in the code. It will probably be fixed when one of the third-party filter lists get updated.
― ArchCarrier, Thursday, 1 September 2016 08:07 (seven years ago) link
Just found out that you can skip the ad blocker notice if you disable all JavaScript (including inline scripts) on the site. It also speeds up the site immensely, although some images aren't displayed and things like the discography browser won't work. But the main content is perfectly visible.
― ArchCarrier, Friday, 2 September 2016 06:42 (seven years ago) link
http://tedium.co/2016/09/20/allmusic-database-historic-importance/
― j., Sunday, 2 October 2016 01:35 (seven years ago) link
I finally set AdBlock Plus to make an exception for AMG and lo and behold they seem to have gotten rid of the most egregiously awful video ads that were the point of objection in the first place. Cool.
UI still sucky/slow compared to its heyday, but what a treasure trove nonetheless. I was feeling deeply adrift in my record shopping without it.
― dustalo springsteen (Doctor Casino), Monday, 7 November 2016 18:15 (seven years ago) link
I can't use the site at all. Whitelisting the site doesn't work. I even ran a different browser with no adblocker installed and it wanted me to disable it.
― svend, Thursday, 8 December 2016 13:46 (seven years ago) link
Likewise for me. It's completely broken.
― the_ecuador_three, Thursday, 8 December 2016 17:57 (seven years ago) link
personally i have found that things have not been too bad recently, but todays visit saw the return of the surround ads.ie. the ads that go around the whole page, take an age to load causing the page to jump all over while they load, and totally look shit.
― mark e, Thursday, 5 January 2017 20:07 (seven years ago) link
It is quite distracting when you have two gigantic deodorant cans either side of your page. I abandoned AMG a while back, but sometimes I'll use a different browser without adblock if I have to. Yep it is fucking awful.
― calzino, Thursday, 5 January 2017 20:25 (seven years ago) link
I've started noticing albums that are invisible/passed-over in the discography browser, though they have entries - e.g. Aerosmith's Toys in the Attic and Hall & Oates Big Bam Boom. Very weird. Both also have no album art though I'm sure they used to (and why wouldn't they?). Very weird and annoying. I worry things are really starting to break down behind the scenes.
― mega pegasus for reindeer (Doctor Casino), Saturday, 14 January 2017 23:30 (seven years ago) link
That's...odd. I know both of those very much had reviews at one point.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 14 January 2017 23:31 (seven years ago) link
They do! Sorry, I wasn't clear - you can totally pull up the individual entries. They've just fallen out of the discography.
― mega pegasus for reindeer (Doctor Casino), Saturday, 14 January 2017 23:32 (seven years ago) link
Ad Block blocker is back with a vengeance! I go to "Disable on allmusic.com" and refresh the site only to have it tell me that I still have it enabled.
Friendly lot, you AMG folk.
― Austin, Tuesday, 21 February 2017 03:46 (seven years ago) link
lol I miss early 2000s AMG
― example (crüt), Tuesday, 21 February 2017 03:54 (seven years ago) link
Memories, corners, mind
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 21 February 2017 03:59 (seven years ago) link
I too got blocked by the ad-block blocker when I tried to look something up yesterday but Chrome also popped up some malware warnings so I just noped out of there
RIP AMG in its late 90s/early 00s form
― a passing spacecadet, Tuesday, 21 February 2017 10:50 (seven years ago) link
I think everyone should boycott this type of shit progress.
― calzino, Tuesday, 21 February 2017 11:23 (seven years ago) link
If you use uBlock Origin (and you should), you can disable all Javascript on the site, inline and third-party. You'll lose a little functionality, but you won't see any more ads or notices.
― ArchCarrier, Tuesday, 21 February 2017 11:26 (seven years ago) link
your not kidding it's a proper take down The Man adblocker is that mother!
― calzino, Tuesday, 21 February 2017 11:31 (seven years ago) link
Yep I'm getting "disable ad-block" pop up even with adblock already disabled, and malware warnings. RIP allmusic.
― Transform All Suffering Into Poo (Colonel Poo), Friday, 24 February 2017 20:12 (seven years ago) link
agreed : RIP.
― mark e, Friday, 24 February 2017 20:14 (seven years ago) link
uBlock Origin, as recommended above does a right job on Allmusic guys
― calzino, Friday, 24 February 2017 20:31 (seven years ago) link
It does the trick, but I'm so tired of having to go all David Copperfield on websites to function. The pop-ups, the annoying adds, the cookie pop-ups, the 'sign up for our fucking newsletter' stuff. Seeing ads while logged in at ilx. I know this is all 'society is in the gutter' but ~the internet~ is p much dead to me these days.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Friday, 24 February 2017 21:19 (seven years ago) link
LBI hits the spot.
― mark e, Friday, 24 February 2017 21:20 (seven years ago) link
LBI probably doesn't use uBlock Origin.
I hardly ever see anything of the things you mentioned. And when something does get through the filters, 'Block element' is just one right-click away.
― ArchCarrier, Saturday, 25 February 2017 20:40 (seven years ago) link
This was still bothering me, because I did turn off the blocker for them and it wouldn't let me in. Googleing I found the solution, well it works for me.
https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uAssets/issues/182
The part about blocking first-party cookies on allmusic.com and sidereel.com works.
in chrome it is under - settings - show advanced - privacy settings - content settings - manage exceptions.
The site seems fast too with that.
― svend, Thursday, 20 April 2017 00:48 (six years ago) link
just when i thought the allmusic experience could not get any worse, they prove me wrong.f*cking ads that pop up and have to be clicked through to get to the review.truly awful.if i created an account and logged in, would there be less advert excess ?
― mark e, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 14:57 (two years ago) link
You have to be an advertiser to log in
― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 15:40 (two years ago) link
Use an adblocker like uBlock Origin, no ads for me on Allmusic.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 15:54 (two years ago) link
yeah, i re-enabled my ad-blocker - all ok now.i thought the site prevented viewing if you had ad-blockers enabled.but seems okfor now.
― mark e, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 16:09 (two years ago) link
brave browser has an ad blocker blocker blocker.
this fucking internet shit is getting to be like the most pointless chess game ever.
(i highly recommend brave browser, btw)
― things repeat forever and there never is a remedy (Austin), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 17:20 (two years ago) link
a few weeks ago they stopped letting me use my site search shortcut, claiming i was using it as an api. ok i will not go to your website, congrats.
today they are 404
― adam t. (abanana), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 07:36 (two months ago) link
i followed a tip from (I think) Marc Masters that if you subscribe, all the ads go away and the site runs turbo-charged, and this is indeed my experience
it's a no-brainer when i consider how much I've gained from allmusic over the past, I dunno.... 20 years??
― (ㅇㅇ) (+ +), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 16:37 (two months ago) link
I'm in your skull.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 6 February 2024 16:40 (two months ago) link