A note from the author: I thought the content of this post would clearly indicate this was a work of fiction… but the web has never been good at capturing irony. It has been dugg… and rumors have begun. I must be watching too much Colbert. Regardless, I can dream of a better iTunes–one that takes advantage of many of the features something like last.fm could enable. Read on. And as you read, imagine the voice of Colbert reading this to you… Further updates will be added to the end of the post.

In a completely unexpected move, Apple insiders say they have quietly acquired the social music site last.fm. What can we expect from the acquisition? A user friendly iTunes. Here are some of the new features iTunes will roll out:

SmartTransitions
Track sequencing algorithms will tap in to the collective dj prowess of the masses. Sequencing of songs will be rated based on how many users play tracks adjacently in playlists, etc, with appropriate weighting of best rated playlists, most novel combinations, and other methods not yet disclosed.

GenreFolksonomies
No longer will iTunes tracks be chained to single categories. Users will be able to create multiple tags across all track variables, as well as at the album, artist, and playlist levels. This intelligence isn’t tied to individual users either.

SocialMeta
Users will be able to share meta tags on all tracks and music. Find groups and users who have meaningful tags–adopt them based on the same smart playlist selection criteria and up the intelligence of your track data in a few clicks.

iMixCasting
No longer are your iMixes just a vehicle to promote sales of files on iTunes. Make your smart playlists podcasts and streaming stations automatically. Users subscribe and tag your casts and stations.

PersonaSettings
The magic of the new algorithms won’t just be social, you’ll also be able to use them to gain better intelligence about your own listening habits. Let the software create your listening personas automatically, or define your own through mood, context, etc. All iTunes settings get stored in the personas including track display variables, equalizer settings, airtunes destinations, and playlist and track tag criteria/filters.

PodTagging
Another useful new feature comes via the iPod. If the iPod is your primary music player you’re currently not capturing a good amount of meta data for your tracks. New iPod software will allow you to quickly tag and rate anything being played–including video, podcasts, playlists, and tracks.

We’ll share more information as it comes in.

Update 2: A couple forums chat about this as well. Interesting take on this post. I’m lucky I didn’t post it during the week. This makes me wonder how the majority of people read blogs. That’ll be for another post.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 19th, 2006 at 4:16 pm and is filed under General, Music. It is further classified using the following tags apple, idea, itunes, last.fm, Mac, Music, social, ui, web2.0 and xp. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.