S/D: Allmusic.com features

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I just find it to be very first generation looking. Things could probably be organized a bit better and made to look more modern than they are right now. I mean.. it doesn't render it useless or mean that it's a big "problem" for me. It's more just a minor annoyance is all.

The site is too anglophone oriented. Most of the artists whose language is not English are lazily reviewed and categorized, eg. Is "latin" the most precise you can get to describe all music sung in spanish? Also, there is a general disdain for dance and pop (as opposed to rock).Finally, the "related albums" section is rubbish.

Ned's reviews are great though!

And how would you search by release dates? Like, "Hmmm, I wonder which Nazareth album came out on October 9, 1974?" Somehow I've never had the urge to do such a search, but hey, I'm not everybody...

As for the rock over pop (or Latin etc) thing, I think the problem might be that rock is what most hacks who write about music LIKE. Again, that sucks for sure, always has. But it's hardly AMG's fault. (Also, I bet there are certain KINDS of rock that AMG does less perfunctorialy than other kinds, just like with all critijism. But I've never really read the reviews much, again, so maybe I'm wrong.)

"Find threads from I Love Music, containing AMG.
None found"

This is bullshit, of course; I'm totally letting them off the hook -- obviously, they should search out people who CAN write intelligently about pop, Latin, etc. But I guess I've never noticed that their rock stuff was in any way brilliant either, so, um, you know. I guess my point is that they're just doing what most music publications have ALWAYS done. And why would anybody *expect* them to be any better?

Omnipresence and market force or something (the hookups with Microsoft, Barnes and Noble, etc.). I'm flattered that some people do like my reviews and I've tried to do what I can with them but at the same time I don't hold any airs about them -- if people like them and do investigate albums because of them, great. But I don't know, if the choice was between this review and this review, which would you think works better? (You may feel free to say 'neither,' of course. ;-))

No way, I hate superfluous makeovers. The "classic" look is so classic.

Like I just randomly did Morrissey and his similar related artists were The Posies, Charlatans UK, Nikki Sudden, some apparently So-cal hardcore punk band called Ill Repute, and ex-Screaming Trees dude Mark Lanegan....wierd.

In that sense, perfect.

I'm glad that hte site is designed how it is, as well. All very basic HTML, simple and easy on the eyes.

And it'd be nice if they didn't misspell the title of the latest Bardo Pond album...things like that.

i like the fact that it tells me if something is still in print,as well as giving a quick overview of a selected artist discography. at times i may disagree with the number of stars that one release gets as opposed to the amount for another,but that is true of any reviewer or review site.

not to slurp to loudly,but i appreciate the site and the work that is put into it by the various contributors.

especially like the fact that it is *free*.

i suggest you ask yourselves if you would miss it if it was no longer around.....as a measure of it's value.

Not so much that as, "Hmm... What else came out in October, 1974?" I guess it's only frustrating because they have the capability, but only use it for birthdays.

It's really my only complaint. I like the content and I don't think they need to tart it up.

Also it fucks with my outdated computer, but that's my problem i guess.

But you usually can see what else came out then. If they're is an exact release date listed, click on it and all (well, not *all*) other albums released on that date are shown.

D: other people's contributions

That's pretty amazing when you think about it. The site provides a huge amount of information, and it costs nothing. Thank you AMG.

The man what provided all those links to the other AMG threads has answered this question many a time. Andy K is love. His real address can be found on some of them threads.

Your friend
Me

I can understand Tom's criticism in the concept being dry, but we're more intended as a guide (hence the name) than being in-depth analytical or personal like this particular site.

Except that Thom Jurek fellow, he's been all over the place lately giving nearly everything 4 and 1/2 stars to 5 stars (!!!)

Dude, I own the print version of "The All Music Guide To Hip-Hop", and believe me, there is a BIG pro-undie, anti-mainstream bias.

I mean, does ANYBODY read amg for listening advice? Dumb question, I know; people obviously do.

Well, there's listening advice and listening advice. I don't particuarly care what AMG thinks about the latest Strokes album, but it's a great help with artists from older genres, especially those that were mainly singles acts and where the only real question is which compilation to buy.

So out of nowhere I got this bizarre error message when trying to access a handful of AMG entries tonight:

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. - 166.90.203.158

A HOOS be using AMG at a rate and speed inconsistent with the noncommercial and personal use permitted by their terms of service.

I was just coming here to post that exact thing. You can just refresh the page and it goes away, but whatever. Did they need one more way to make the site MORE obnoxious? I mean, what does that warning even mean? I think they're trying to frighten people into registering to use the site, which is some major bullshit, but more than that I think they're trying to blame the user for the asstastic speeds that this Piece Of Shit front end necessitates. How many times can I say say, Fuck you, allmusic.com?

(Except, who else has this kind of database? Where else would I go? They got us by the short hairs.)

My guess is that they're trying to stop commercial websites from using their content without paying/licensing. How they're able to do that w/o ticking off personal users with high speed connections is beyond me...

I hadn't seen that message lately, but I used to get it about every two months for a couple years. Part of why I mostly abandoned the site for quite some time.