Well it's time for my weekly update on my LaunchCast station. Today I'm feeling a little better about the whole thing. Although I do feel as though LaunchCast does its best to push you towards subtly more commercial music, I think I've managed to negotiate an uneasy peace with it. Of course, LaunchCast is Yahoo!, so you've got to keep your eye on them at all times. Right now I'm listening to Mrs. Robinson on the Simon & Garfunkle Live in the Park recording, one of my gavorite songs. I've also been getting regular doses of Leonary Cohen and almost the right mix of Bjork and Propellerheads. A few of the recommendations have even been helpful. As for the downsides: getting LaunchCast to ONLY play the Smiths and Bob Marley songs that I like has been a pain. I've had to turn off song after song until only the few that I enjoy are played. I also noted that even if I block an artist, I will get his songs if either the song or the album has been rated. Note that LaunchCast considers anything you've rated to be fair play, even if you rate it 1 in 10, so block things you don't like. It's also hard to get some of the less commerical stuff (of course). Mistle Thrush is listed as being in their system, but it's clearly not. I created a station where Mistle Thrush was the only band listed, and still couldn't get it to play, even though Luanch clearly claims they have a Mistle Thrush album in their library. Lots of bands are not available at all (Freezepop and Future Bible Heroes come to mind.