Have you upgraded to the latest iTunes yet? If not, then I’d certainly recommend it. They have added “Genius”, which allows you to pick a single song and iTunes then builds a 25 song playlist around it selecting tracks from the other music in your library. (I’m still trying to fathom out the algorithm they have created to achieve this.)
An example: I selected “Peacock Suit” by Paul Weller and in seconds I have a playlist including tracks from The Small Faces, The Kinks, Blur, The Jam, Graham Coxon and even The Smiths. I have quite an eclectic collection and so far the Genius application has worked really well; it’s taken the hassle out of manually creating a playlist and has suited my mood at the time.
Of course, there is another reason for this, and when you’re online the Genius application taps into the iTunes store and makes some recommendations for tracks you don’t currently have in your library. And yes, I felt the need to purchase some of these recommendations. Apple wins; the artist wins and I do as well.
For me, Genius is a well thought through recommendations engine (I’d say more sophisticated than the Amazon one as it’s much more personal), creating awareness within their customer base for new tracks; and creating advocates as well… which I guess I must be as I’ve now blogged about it. I wonder what businesses could learn from this approach if they applied some of the same thinking to their own customer base?
I’m now going to select “Surfacing” by Slipknot and see what pops up!!
