Last.fm is a service that tracks users' listening habits by collecting data on the music tracks, called "scrobbles", that users listen to. It also functions as a social network by recommending new music to users based on their listening data and the data of other users. Last.fm has an API that allows developers to access data on individual users or in aggregate, including data on artists, tags, and tracks. To use the API, developers must apply for an API key and secret code to authenticate their requests. API requests return data in XML format, with parameters like artist, track, and username optionally included to provide context.

1. API & Project
Mike Harmala
Jeremy Canfield
Yuliang Ma

2. Last.fm is a way for you to track your
listening habits. Each track reported to
Last.fm is called a scrobble.

3. Last.fm is also a social network that
aggregates users' data & recommends
new music based on users' habits

4. That's a lot of data! Last.fm has an API
for developers to use
last.fm/api

5. The API lets you see things at an
individual user level or an aggregate
level. Things like...
an artist's tags a user's top artists
event info

6. Before getting an API key, you need to
make a user profile (do it!)

7. After applying for an API account, you
get an API key & a secret code that
authenticates you for write services

8. For the API you call a method & it will
return XML, like this for track.getInfo
parameters
artist artist name in question (optional)
track track name in question (optional
mbid musicbrainz id for the track (optional)
username username for the context of the request. If supplied, the user's
playcount for this track and whether they have loved the track is included
in the response (optional)
api_key A Last.fm API key (required!)
url input (we'll just use api_key, track & artist)
http://ws.audioscrobbler.com/2.0/?
method=track.getinfo&api_key=b25b959554ed76058ac220b7b2e0a
026&artist=radiohead&track=paranoid+android

9. Part of Dumper() could look like...
'toptags' => {
'tag' => {
'alternative rock' => {
'url' => 'http://www.last.fm/tag/alternative%20rock'
},
'indie' => {
'url' => 'http://www.last.fm/tag/indie'
},
'rock' => {
'url' => 'http://www.last.fm/tag/rock'
},
'alternative' => {
'url' => 'http://www.last.fm/tag/alternative'
},
'radiohead' => {
'url' => 'http://www.last.fm/tag/radiohead'
}
}
},
'name' => 'Paranoid Android',
'duration' => '382000',
'mbid' => {},
'album' => {
'artist' => 'Radiohead',
'url' => 'http://www.last.fm/music/Radiohead/OK+Computer',
'position' => '2',
'title' => 'OK Computer',
...

10. Questions?
print "Ask a question:n";
my $question=<>;

11. Our Project
Tag Exploration

12. Project Goals
1 Compare Users based on Tags
2 Find Weird Tags for Artists

13. Project Goal 1
Compare Users based on Tags
a. Get a last.fm user's favorite artists, then
compile the tags for all those artists into
a list
b. Do the same for a second user
c. Compare tag lists

14. Project Goal 1
Compare Users based on Tags
wordle
tag cloud
bar chart

15. Project Goal 2
Find Weird Tags for Artists
a. Get a last.fm artist's similar artists, then
compile the tags for all those artists
b. Analyze tag lists

16. Project Goal 2
Find Weird Tags for Artists
last.fm Tag explorer

17. thank you