Why You Can Trust CNET MyStrands launches MyStrands.TV, non-stop music video discovery
Get music video recommendations served up automatically with MyStrands.tv
Yesterday MyStrands, the music discovery service/social network launched MyStrands.TV, a new offering that serves up music videos related to your tastes. If you've ever used Last.fm, the idea is similar--just type in an artist name and you'll get a playlist full of their videos, along with several recommendations for similar artists or genres. The service keeps track of which videos you've watched, and shows you a listing of members who have added that artist to their own playlists. There's also a social element with user pages full of custom band picks you can share with friends, and other MyStrands users.
What makes MyStrands.tv jump out is its simplicity. The focus is entirely on the videos, and the UI is pleasingly intuitive. You can tweak little things like whether or not you want just your artist to play, or for MyStrands to pick from other artists to surprise you. There are also simple StumbleUpon-like navigation controls to give whatever video you're watching the thumbs up or thumbs down, which will affect future recommendations.
The service supports itself with ads, which lay unobtrusively on the side of the page. They're contextual based on the artists and songs on the page, so if you like what you hear, there are links to buy the album on Amazon.com. The videos come from YouTube, so clicking on any of them will take you to the video's page on the service.
Altogether MyStrands.tv is a dead-simple way to explore music videos and get introduced to new bands. Although since it's video-only, you're missing out on some of the goodness that comes your way with the less popular indie bands that find their way into services like Pandoraand Last.fm.
