Just a note: Allmusic.com has greatly revamped its site, improving the look and navigation--but best of all, adding the possibility to listen to short audio clips from just about every artist in their database. (In a brief press release, productivity announced its formal surrender.)
"A sinister cabal of superior writers."
Article comments
1 - bryan
Yeah, well apparently it was working so good until you linked it.
We apologize for the temporary connection delay.
Please click the refresh button on your browser.
:-P
2 - Mark Hasty
Have patience, grasshopper. You will connect soon, and it will be SO worth your trouble.
(No, I don't work for All Music. Just a fanboy.)
3 - Dew
Well I am a fangirl Mark. I love keeping detailed tabs on all the music I own so if AllMusic does a good job on this remodel I will definitely be a bigger fan (if possible).
4 - Tom Johnson
Initial impression? TOO MUCH CLICKING! My GOD, to read a review of Metallica's EP, Some Kind Of Monster, I had to click, click, click, click, click, click through MANY pages to finally get to the actual review. They've split everything up onto (many) separate pages - instead of having it all available on the artist's main page. And instead of going to a bio as the first page, they should make the discog first - because that's what I really want to get to immediately. And on that note, I understand the organizational beauty of splitting albums, singles/EPs, videos, etc. into separate pages, but man, to get to anything it just takes too many clicks. However, it is VERY cool to have sound clips now - instead of me having to track the music down on Amazon or CDUniverse. Very welcome change.
5 - bryan
Hmm. Since all this expanded functionality apparently works on IE 5.5 or higher for Windoze, I think I'll just skip it.
6 - Eric Olsen
As an occasional contributor and longtime fan and user, I can say without much fear of contradiction that the changes to the site are basically smoke and mirrors to mask and enable the move toward registration.
I don't particularly blame them for finally cashing in on the goldmine of users via registration, but it is disingenuous to pretend the changes are for anyone's benefit other than their own.
7 - Mark Saleski
"Notice: You are accessing allmusic.com with a browser that is not currently supported. The appearance and functionality of the site could be impacted. allmusic.com is optimized for Internet Explorer 5.5 and above for Windows.
goodbye allmusic.com!
8 - Mark Hasty
Apart from some layout issues (which I also have with this site from time to time), the new Allmusic seems to work OK with Mozilla 1.7. It's no better than OK, but it's not like your desk will explode, your teeth will turn yellow, and you'll get audited if you're using Mozilla.
I would also argue that the direct links to sound clips are a real benefit to the user, especially if you're researching the influences or followers of a particular artist. It's also great fun to hear just how bad David Bowie's The Laughing Gnome really is.
There's already a Bugmenot for Allmusic, if anybody's uptight about registering. I don't plan on using it, though--Allmusic is one of the few Internet sites I'd actually be willing to pay for. But not more than $2 a month.
9 - Phillip Winn
Er, Mark, email me on the Yahoo list to let me know what layout problems you have.
10 - Mark Saleski
gawd, philip...there's too many of them.
stuff is all ajumbled all over the place. links using mouseover events don't seem to work.
it'd be easier if you installed mozilla.
11 - Phillip Winn
I use Firefox, no problems. I test with MSIE occasionally, though rarely. Since Mozilla will eventually disappear in favor of Firefox, I'll stick with that. :-)
Er, and links using mouseover events? On Blogcritics.org? I can't remember any.
P.S. In Firefox, the right column is bottom-aligned instead of top-aligned as it should be. I've actually fixed this in the template code, and freshly-built pages will have the fix, though I need to kick off a multi-hour site rebuild for older pages soon.
12 - Mark Saleski
oops, i've been reading the document i'm in the middle of for too long philip....i just realized that i thought you were asking me about layout problems at allmusic.com
phew!! i need a nap.
sorry 'bout that.
13 - Eric Olsen
now that's funny: Phillip just fixed AllMusic.com via Blogcritics
14 - Mark Hasty
I noticed that, in Mozilla, the mouseovers work, but they don't highlight, like they do in IE 6.0.
Oh, and just so we're clear, I'm talking about Allmusic.com! ;) I have to say, Allmusic does work a lot better in IE, but it's still usable with Mozilla. It's mostly "look and feel" issues from what I can tell, and if enough of us make a stink about it, eventually they'll fix it . . . right?
15 - bryan
t's mostly "look and feel" issues from what I can tell, and if enough of us make a stink about it, eventually they'll fix it . . . right?
ROFL. Best line of the day, Mark. :-P
16 - Mark Hasty
Boy, I tell ya, I got a million of 'em. I tried to register on the site today and so far, it's not working . . . I may have to retract this entry.
17 - Mark Hasty
Oh, and for what it's worth, I no longer get the "browser not supported" message in Mozilla 1.7. Still can't log in, though.
18 - Mark Hasty
Update: my login is working now, and the site is only about 4,836 times faster than it was yesterday. Color me satisfied.
19 - gustavo
I used the old site very much.It was ecxellent!
In the new site I registered, but only I can see the pages what not need registration, when I try for example see the credits of one album, the site require login and i go automatically to home page!!!Here i see one more time welcome Gustavo, this is absurd!!
The old site was excellent.Buah!!!!!!
20 - Mark Hasty
I had the same problem, Gustavo. Allmusic sent me an e-mail telling me they were having a little trouble getting registration information propagated to all its servers. Maybe that's still going on; I'd give Allmusic another 24 hours.