Launchcast radio promises to play what you really want

Published on Sunday 30 March 2003 00:00

IN THIS age of paranoia, the tagline for Launchcast online radio service is pretty remarkable: "Music that listens to you." As in, Launchcast knows exactly which artists you love and which you hate. Launchcast tracks your every listening mood and move.

It may only be a matter of time before the authorities try to get their hands on Launchcast’s user information to crack down on indie kids who are using the service to listen to Arab Strap, Massive Attack and other such inappropriately named acts in a time of war, but it’s worth a go.

The online radio service does much more than play you a genre-based rack of tunes. It lets you create a station based on your preferences by rating the songs you love most and banning the songs you never want to hear again. Every artist, record and song in Launchcast’s library can be rated between zero and 100, creating an individual personal profile.

Because this is the internet, the service is user-friendly enough so people who are too lazy to go MP3-hunting can spend just 10 minutes customising their station.

If you rate enough music, the site will play you a random loop almost entirely of your favourite songs, as well as a few wild cards that your preferences suggest you might like. Which means, if you’re like me and love many top-40 singles as well as indie rock, you will finally have a radio station that celebrates your multifaceted, if sometimes unpredictable, musical cravings.

This is what happened when I listened to the service for more than an hour one day. My listening pleasure kicked off with Interpol’s ‘PDA’ (which I ranked 100) and Jewel’s ‘You Were Meant for Me’ ( also ranked 100), then, in this order, I got the Smiths, Pavement, the Magnetic Fields, New Order, Depeche Mode, Neutral Milk Hotel, the Get Up Kids, Bright Eyes, the Cure and Sleater-Kinney. A couple of hours later, I clicked back on and got Zwan, Kid Rock with Sheryl Crow, the Faint, Billy Bragg with Wilco and Teenage Fanclub.

On a regular basis, I will get a Nada Surf song, an Eminem song and Jewel reading her poetry, in the same hour.

A friend likes hip-hop and R&B, so she has a station that plays her Ja Rule and J.Lo, while also playing the Pixies, Oasis, Braid and Pete Yorn.

Even though Launchcast gives you the ability to rate an artist highly but also ban that artist’s one song you can’t stand, the service also makes you a more tolerant listener. It gives listeners the chance to appreciate something that may have been dismissed too quickly the first time around. When you can click a button to skip to the next song at any moment, you’re not as worried about something annoying being played.

Launchcast isn’t perfect. Its library of more than 200,000 songs (which, says its publicist, is growing every day) does have holes. My favourite album of the moment, the new Rainer Maria, isn’t on it yet.

Also troublesome, every once in a while your connection will stop and start again, or simply stop. And sometimes Launchcast’s recommendations can get a little out of control. I rated Nada Surf highly and Launchcast suggested Reverend Horton Heat, Teenage Fanclub and Weezer. Fine, but when I then rated Weezer and Sum 41 highly, I started getting songs from every upstart band that has ever been on a Warped records tour.

That said, Launchcast is a great service, considering that it is free. It still gives you more uninterrupted music than traditional radio, even as the online commercials are getting longer. One concern, however, is that Launchcast has just established a premium subscription, so who knows how long the free ride will last?

The most important thing when you use it is to be honest, because if you create a station based on what you think is cool, you’re only cheating yourself by having to listen to Radiohead when what you really pine for is a bit of Celine. If you like Linkin Park as much I do, you’re going to have to tell Launchcast that. If you like emotional, wailing women as much as I do, you shouldn’t pretend that you don’t.

www.launchcast.com