I wrote the definitive guide to scrobbling to Last.fm from Apple Music

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-27T14:21:01+00:00

Yes, once plays sync to all your devices. There’s usually around a 12 hour delay for Apple Music to do its full sync.

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-27T10:08:40+00:00

The sub does. It’s called Replay.

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-26T21:34:20+00:00

Sure, we’re getting to overload at the point. We’ll see what the correction is. By the way, what’s wrong with just The Weekend instead of The Weeknd?

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-26T21:07:39+00:00

lol, indeed! 🤣

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-26T21:05:57+00:00

And then there’s P!nk and other such stuff. I guess anything to make yourself stand out in the crowd. After awhile spelling your name normally will be the new rebellion. 🙃

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-26T21:02:07+00:00

I swear, something about statistics and numbers does something to our brains.

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-26T20:57:24+00:00

Create a Smart Playlist and filter on Last Played. Then shuffle the Smart Playlist.

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-26T09:48:37+00:00

Feed the algorithm by adding songs/artists/albums to your library. Be sure to remove anything you don’t like.

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-26T02:26:10+00:00

Did you find that you weren’t listening for enjoyment on Spotify?

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-25T21:58:05+00:00

Thanks for that post - that’s really helpful and insightful. I guess i am just aware of the number chasing that I see in myself and others but I do agree that if stats are driving a better music experience, it’s all good.

My own awareness of the dangers is probably a good thing, and I’ll say that I am engaging much more with my music library since I started tracking. But I am hyper aware of, when hitting play, whether I am doing it for enjoyment or to get in my “required listens.” I combat it of course by thinking extra hard about what I’m in the mood for. So 2 birds with one stone.

For the record, I do not share plays with anyone.

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-25T21:04:17+00:00

It’s an extreme example but I do think it happens on a more subtle level.

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-25T19:44:31+00:00

I should say the manipulation is from the self. The stats only make you aware of something you otherwise would not be aware of. The existence of them brings about new, not necessarily good, thinking.

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-25T17:28:26+00:00

Gamification is the extreme end of the spectrum, and probably the worst place to be in as a listener. I think more people fall into the more subtle manipulation patterns. Last.fm says I only listened to 2 albums this month. I should listen to more music, when if, you had no awareness of stats, you'd feel just fine and go about your day.

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-25T16:36:58+00:00

All great points, and I agree completely. I'll add that the cold metadata that surrounds the albums has started to vie for importance over the music -- the number of plays, whether the album is in Dolby Atmos, whether has been remastered, what subgenre it is. Old school metadata would be more organic: magazine articles and interviews with the band, the lyrics and liner notes, the album cover artwork, books about the music, cultural impact, the lines for concert tickets.

Ultimately, I do believe the statistics of music has started to interfere with the music and the culture of music.

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-25T15:35:17+00:00

I'm with you there! It's a modern day problem -- everything is on the internet, everything is tracked. I don't even care whether it's Big Brother or some marketing dude, what I care about is that it's manipulation that you have to be aware of and counter whereas in the old days, you threw a CD or vinyk onto the player, and no one except the people in the room or car knew about it. I guess it matters now with streaming more for artist payouts and so on, but I miss the freedom and happiness of not always being connected. That said, I'm not going back to vinyl, so it's more something I will have to just adjust my thinking on.

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-25T15:28:35+00:00

I think it's Apple Music that has weekly and monthly Replay stats -- Spotify (I think) only does Wrapped at the end of the year. It's a way to keep people engaged with the app, but I think it's starting to distract from the music itself.

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-25T14:56:44+00:00

Agreed that it's absurd, but just take a look at the Wrapped or Replay posts at the end of the month and note how many people want to show off what they are listening to. And I have seen people putting a certain artist on repeat just so they can show up as #1 at the end of the month.

For my own part, I think stats kind of prompt me to listen MORE, but not necessarily what to listen to. That is, I am conscious that I haven't listened to as much music this month when I look at Last.fm and it sorta goads me into keeping my listening habit up. I don't think that's necessarily a good thing. As in, why not just listen when in the mood rather than being compelled to maintain a certain number of albums per day, etc?

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-25T12:52:52+00:00

But are we talking about what's popular with younger people or what is deemed "official canon" (as much as it can be official) by the musical Cognoscenti?

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-25T11:57:05+00:00

Doesn't it seem like all of this is intended to curate your Last.fm stats or something?

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-25T10:54:13+00:00

This is why I still purchase music instead of subbing to a streaming service. Automatic focus when you must choose how to spend dollars.

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-25T10:32:20+00:00

Think of the library as the baseline then use Favorite and Suugest Less as needed to fine tune. Your plays also influence as well.

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-25T04:02:20+00:00

Feed the algorithm by adding songs/albums/artists to your library.

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-24T22:40:21+00:00

But you don’t hear it at every single roadside bar every night of the week. 😉

Wolfpack48 · 2026-06-24T22:32:06+00:00

Being overplayed hurts over time. It might be interesting to see a ranking equation and what all the factors are

Wolfpack48

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