I’m always on the hunt for new music. It’s what fuels me. When I discover a new band I normally track down their MySpace page and check out their tunes. MySpace band pages let you listen to a few select tracks, although quite often the latest single is limited to only thirty seconds or so – pretty annoying.

But now I use Spotify. Lovely Spotify allows me to listen to all the tracks available by the artist, in their entirety, for free. What’s more it’s fast, uncluttered and very easy to use.

If Spotify can secure its future via subscription based mobile apps (most importantly that of the iPhone) it will not only challenge MySpace Music but other internet-radio services such as Last.fm, Blip.fm and Pandora. They’ll have to rely on their social networking attributes to stay in the game. More traditional niche internet-radio stations such as NME.com could also be affected and they’ll need to maximize their original content and new music credentials to retain listeners. The other potential loser in this is, of course, Apple’s iTunes – although a significant number of people will always want to own the music they listen too, rather than just subscribe.

I’ve always been a fan of MySpace, but if it’s to survive, I believe it needs to offer better integration with Twitter and Last.fm type services. This would help the pages achieve more repeat visits by making them a hub for everything related to a band. Improved design and a good clear out of the clutter that plagues the artists’ pages wouldn’t go amiss either. But the most pressing issues such as access to more music and shorter load times would vastly improve what is increasingly looking like a tired web format. MySpace Music could also do more to help break new bands through a ‘new music’ streaming service – now that’s something I’d listen to!

I’ve invented a fun new game that you can play with your friends called Last FM Charades. I tried it out on some chums this New Years Eve after a few ales and it went down well. It’s best played with an iPhone 3G loaded up with the free Last FM app. It helps if you’re already familiar with the rules of Charades (although not knowing can add to the hilarity).

To start, simply create a new station on Last FM. We went for an 80’s theme. This worked well for us because although we grew up in the era of big hair, our collective musical memory had enough gaps to keep it fresh, and the cheesy nostalgia added to the entertainment.

Then take it in turns to take the stage with the iPhone, play the next track (without letting anyone else see the track details), and proceed to act out the title of the song. If you successfully mime it before the title is sung, you can pass to the next person. If the title is sung on the iPhone before the others guess, or they just guess it straight away from the first few notes, you have to stay on and do the next track until you’re successful.

You can play this with an ordinary iPod and dock set to shuffle, although the owner will always have a slightly unfair advantage and you’re limited to the music on that iPod.

I’ll never forget Lucy’s impression of Paris for ‘The Paris Match’ by The Style Council…so next time you have friends round to your place, treat them to Last FM Charades and let me now how you get on!