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That One Song tells you what a band sounds like

If you've ever wondered what a band sounds like but have been too lazy to look it up, then That One Song could be the answer.

Ty Pendlebury Editor
Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He majored in Cinema Studies when studying at RMIT. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Ty Pendlebury
Screenshot: Ty Pendlebury/CNET

Heard of a band but don't know what they sound like? Sure you could Google it (like a normal person) but you're more likely to turn up the band's most popular, and not necessarily most representative. song.

That One Song, by the makers of social music website This Is My Jam , aims to change that. The app aggregates the listening habits of Jam listeners and finds the "best" or most shared song from each group and provides results in the form of Spotify and/or YouTube links. You don't need to be a This Is My Jam subscriber to use it, either.

The interface is simple -- just a search bar -- and the catalogue is seemingly extensive with searches on both obscure '90s antipodean acts (Sandpit/Loves Ugly Children) and Icelandic medieval groups (Voces Thules) failing to flummox it.

But while most results were "deeper cuts" rather than obvious singles -- it chose Pearl Jam's "Black" instead of "Alive", for example -- it sometimes chose songs which weren't representative, such as hair-metal band Extreme's popular "More Than Words."

="" href="http://evolver.fm/2014/02/10/that-one-song-plays-any-bands-most-beloved-song/">Evolver.fm.