Because everyone else at work is on it (I like it here), I have signed up to Last.fm a year or so after the rest of civilisation.
I told it to find me artists like Paul Simon. Off it trotted and brought me the following right out of the box:
- Pink Floyd
- Nick Drake
- Bruce Springsteen
- Dire Straits
- Fleetwood Mac
- Ben Folds
- Iron & Wine (of whom I had never heard - further investigation required)
- REM
- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
- The Beatles (I imagine it would cough up a Beatles track sooner or later whatever the start point)
I'm still looking for the alleged similarities to Paul Simon in some of the above, but I can't fault it for finding stuff I'll like. (Still not keen on Bruce Springsteen, though, despite the best efforts of artificial intelligence.)
I think Pandora's interface and range of music are better. But we'll see.