Global Billboard

I've been 'mourning' the disappearance of the wonderful GRACENOTE MUSIC MAP website, which I blogged about in 2007 and used numerous times before it vanished. I even contacted Gracenote, but got no joy...
Thanks to Keir Clarke for telling me about GLOBAL BILLBOARD.
Instead of the Gracenote map (which used data gathered when people ripped CDs), this uses favourites and plays on the LAST FM music service. It shows the top 5 artists and tracks.
In some countries the numbers are really small as a result (which was not a problem with Gracenote) and the numbers of records are too small. There also isn't the same local authenticity when visiting countries where the local bands were more popular before. There are also some inconsistencies...

Still, it's a useful additional tool for exploring the apparent cultural globalisation of some music acts...

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