# Any artist recommendation engines that take specific songs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-artist-recommendation-engines-that-take-specific-songs/514456>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 20, 2009, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-artist-recommendation-engines-that-take-specific-songs/514456 "2009-10-20T07:01:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-artist-recommendation-engines-that-take-specific-songs/514456/1 "2009-10-20T07:01:36Z")

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I’ve used Pandora and Last.fm a bit to get recommendations of new artists I might like, but I’ve always felt they were limited by using artists as the base unit, when there are plenty of artists who only have a few songs I like (this was prompted by Lily Allen, who has exactly five songs I enjoy). So, are there any similar sites that take specific songs (or even things about songs you like [say, syncopation]) into account?

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**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-artist-recommendation-engines-that-take-specific-songs/514456/2 "2009-10-20T14:02:53Z")

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You can make a Pandora station based on a song instead of an artist.

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**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-artist-recommendation-engines-that-take-specific-songs/514456/3 "2009-10-20T17:54:21Z")

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Well, that’s true, and in fact you can use multiple songs. However, as far as I can tell, it’s not narrowing down your selection, but finding songs that are similar to ANY of those songs. Which just makes it fuzzier, and less likely to recommend something I like.

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**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-artist-recommendation-engines-that-take-specific-songs/514456/4 "2009-10-20T19:26:48Z")

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The number of people who listen to any specific song by an artist will be no greater than the number of people who listen to any song by that artist, and often significantly lower. Trying to make recommendations based on a small number of plays is a great way to make bad recommendations, so it seems unlikely that anyone’s going to seriously pursue this.

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**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-artist-recommendation-engines-that-take-specific-songs/514456/5 "2009-10-21T08:44:40Z")

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You can use the iTunes genius function either to find similar songs in your own music library, or in the iTunes store.