I use launch.yahoo.com as an Internet radio service at work -- damn Nokia's network use policy. I upgraded to the no-commercials service. I get to grade sogns as they play, in the web interface, to say which I like and which I hate, and the system tries to give me more of what I like and less of what I may not like, repeats things I really like, and throws in new stuff so I can keep making decisions and stay on top of things. I am always wary of these stations: how recent is their catalog? How often do they update? Launch seems to be doing pretty well, as I expect from a property owned by a juggernaut like Yahoo. But really, how pretty well?
When I started it up just now after lunch, it played the William Hung version of She Bangs for me.
(For our non-US readers, or those lucky US-readers that managed to live under a rock for this one, Mr. Hung is an American Idol reject, bigtime reject, who was so bad, so very bad, but so high-spirited, he got a record contract. Mainly as a novelty quick-cash cow for the record company, I suspect. One has to wonder what the terms are for Mr. Hung. His album debut charted at nr 30 in its first week. Mostly, according to Tower Records spokespeople, from people buying it who wanted to know just how bad it was.
Let's just say those buyers have gotten their money worth.)
And because of a glitch the web-page to grade it did not appear. I did not have a chance to ban it from my playlist. It may get played again.
I wonder if Launch has the video.
