Getting into an artist with one song… but which?

that-one-song

When someone recommends you check out an artist, it can be an exercise in frustration if you need to know how to enter their catalog.  A new site in beta by This is My Jam, That One Song, attempts to declutter the situation by using the recommendations of many to define the definitive song.

When you type in an artist, it pulls up the song most recommended from This is My Jam users, and then offers a “B Side” if a song is too obvious or not cutting it for you. The songs are linked to Spotify, tying into the social online streaming service’s ability to embed and play on demand.

I typed in a few artists to see what kind of recommendations I got, and overall it’s not too bad. Using a few artists I recently have written about on the blog:

  • Kylie Minogue came up with “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” which is the obvious choice given the song’s popularity both at the time and now. The B-side is “I Believe in You,” which works.
  • Ronika, a more obscure artist, came back with “Automatic,” which is probably her most notable effort, with a B-side of “Forget Yourself.”  That’s the correct 1-2 punch for those new to the artist.
  • For Annie, the main selection was “Tube Stops and Lonely Hearts,” an intriguing selection as it wasn’t an album track nor on last year’s “A&R” EP. That said, it was her comeback track before “A&R,” so perhaps the timing and notoriety of that track (given This is My Jam launched in 2012) skews the results.  The B-side of “Bad Times,” which is an album track on second album “Don’t Stop,” is another intriguing choice, but it’s a good album cut (I had actually forgotten about it, but am jamming to it as I write this) so it does work as a representative sample of Annie’s.
  • Hank & Cupcakes‘ one song is “Ain’t No Love,” which is a bullseye – it’s the Brooklyn Duo’s most notable track to date, with “Liquid Mercury” as the B-side another appropriate choice.

For those looking for an ability to get to know artists with recommendations by the larger public about where to start, it’s a great way to begin exploring an artist’s catalog.

 

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