Dear Last.FM & Pandora, Please use User Specific/Adjustable Tags for Songs and Artists

Removeable Tags

Hi, this is my first post here. Usually I use Sirius Satellite Radio at home and at work to listen to music. Primarily, because i pay for it. So why wouldn't I. Naturally I've grown tired of it. I've had since 2005. There's always new stuff sure. But personalized radio. now that is cool. So yes i'll say it...the word that should never be heard on last.fm. I use Pandora. Okay it's out sorry. I use pandora and Sirius and last.fm.
One thing i've noticed about online radio, having used these two products is the genres that an artist falls under, because of how users have tagged them.

However. I'll use some prime examples to show how tags have failed us and the community at large.

Tagging Pearl Jam as hardcore rock. Okay it's not that hard core. I love pearl jam, but i hate godsmack, but if i type in Pearl Jam it lumps in Godsmack. Pearl Jam has some loud songs. But I personally consider them to be a progressive rock band. So what i'm saying is tagging should be used only for song titles. Every song is different in an artists playbook.
Look at Great Lake Swimmers, almost all of their stuff is pretty folky and soft rockish and acousticy. I am a huge fan of Onigara. When it first came out I went to Borders, but they didn't have it, I went to iTunes but they didn't have it. So I went somewhere else. My friend mininova. This is a young group, a lot of their stuff sounds the same. They haven't even begun to branch out. They're untainted by commercial success.

Eddie Vedder's latest CD that accompanies the terrific film - Into The Wild, is incredible. It's not a hardcore heavy drum guitarry rock album, it's a from the heart, american masterpiece, both critical of this nation and our ideals and has inspired me to rethink my own. I'd call it an american folk album.

I love to listen to Eddie Vedder, Great Lake Swimmers, Reed Kd, and others.

But when i type in Eddie Vedder on Pandora or Last.fm it plays me Godsmack and Pearl Jam songs in the mixture. I don't like Godsmack. and when i'm listening to folk music i don't want to listen to listen to "Its Evolution baby!" I try to listen to quiet, happy stuff at work so customers aren't all "why are they cursing and screaming on the radio?" That's not right, the software is flawed. It needs to get fixed to better represent my intentions.

I've noticed this with other groups too. City and Colours, the lead singer sings beautiful acoustic rock. It's personal and from the heart. Now because he was formerly in a screamo band his music gets lumped with other screamo/emo bands that just suck imo. I don't want to listen to screamo music with gorgeous relaxing acoustic bands.

So that makes me think that the tags are flawed because it says City and Colours is an emo band because he was in some screamo/emo band before. I don't know what classifies something as emo, but usually its whiny kids singing about a lost relationship with a girl who doesn't love them anymore even though they're barely old enough to have had a chance to consider love. So they're emo, they're emotional, they're suicidal, etc. /wrists and all that terrible stuff. No I do not classify City and Colours anywhere near emo. It's a guy with a guitar. It all sounds very acoustic. It's incredible i can't wait to see him live. I've told my sister to see his show for my birthday (oct 6) on October 5th in NYC at Terminal 5 (wtf that is) with Tegan and Sara.

Users need to be able to select an artist or a song they like and tag that song to their own personal needs. And then when you see similarities in how people rate things you can start recommending things to people. Kind of like netflix ratings and how they recommend movies to me i've never heard of before and usually end up blown away at how compelling they are.

If User-Specific/Adjustable tags isn't the answer, fine, but what is?

-AM321CAN