The whole point of this blog was to analyze the nature of Tumblr as a music recommendation and discovery site; I wanted to look at it's potential and what worked, or didn't work, and figure out ways to make it better. It's barely been two weeks since I started, but there are already some things that have become clear to me.Â
Tumblr does have the potential to work as a music recommendation and discovery site. Audio and video posts allow users to share music quickly and easily, and the integration of Spotify, Soundcloud, and YouTube give them access to a greater music library than any one person could possibly possess. The inclusion of posts for links and plain text also makes Tumblr a useful site for full-on music blogs to posts news stories, reviews, etc. I myself write for a Tumblr-based music site called PropertyOfZack.com, and I also post reviews and articles I write for NYU's paper, Washington Square News. Tumblr gives writers access to a wider audience.
There's also the social aspects. Connecting with other users via tags and following, and the ability to message opens up a whole realm of user-based recommendation, as well as the possibility to serendipitously discover bands as they come up on your dash.Â
Despite these obvious features in favor of Tumblr as a music recommendation and discovery site, it is still under-utilized as such. I believe this is because of a couple very distinct shortcomings.
First, Tumblr as a recommendation/discovery site is heavily reliant on the social features. Unless you are actively communicating with other users, most of the music you come across on the site is what shows up on your dashboard. Typically, this will be music you already listen to because it comes from people who you follow. If you're on Tumblr looking for music, chances are you're following people who like the same bands you do. Also, not every user actively posts music on their blogs.Â
And second, the fact that you have to remain on the same page to listen to an audio or video post (unless the audio is hosted on Spotify) is inconvenient and awkward. Personally, I don't listen to many posts because I like being able to freely browse through my dashboard and some of the various tags I follow.
Finally, Tumblr is not the most reliable website in general. As we all saw during the great blackout of 12/12/12, there are still a lot of kinks that need to be worked out to get the site running smoothly.
I can see a couple things Tumblr could do to step-up it's game as a recommendation/discovery site. For one thing, it could institute a user-based filter system on tags. Like if I track a tag for one band, let's say Yellowcard, it could give me suggestions of other bands I might want to track based on other users who also track Yellowcard. If it shows me some of the most commonly tracked tags by people who also track Yellowcard, there's a good chance I'll find something I like.Â
It'd also be cool if Tumblr could institute a pop-out music player. This might prove a little difficult, but it would certainly be useful. I think it'd be especially great if it included a feature that allowed you to add songs to a queue as you're scrolling. Then you could listen to all the music you come across without having to worry about staying on a certain page.
Tumblr is a rapidly growing site, and I see lots of potential in it as a music recommendation and discovery site. It may not be there just yet, but with a few changes  I think it could prove valuable to up-and-coming bands and artists.
