If you’ve read previous entries in this blog, you know that MusicStrands is about creating more and stronger connections: connections to music and connections to friends who can, in turn, connect you to more music and more friends, and more music, and more friends…you get the idea. It’s a not-so-vicious cycle. In fact, we think it’s a pretty good cycle to be part of.

The newest release of MyStrands for Windows keeps that cycle spinning along, making it even easier to see who enjoys the tunes you like, what other music they like, and when they last played the song you’re currently relishing.

“Who’s Listening” has always been an important part of the MyStrands community window. Unfortunately, unless you’re listening to a “top of the charts” track–or you’re very, very lucky–it’s not always easy to catch someone listening to your music exactly when you’re listening. The latest MyStrands release still allows for serendipitous synchronicity, but it recognizes that a lot of life is asynchronous. Check out “who’s listening” in the community window, and you’ll see a list of the last few people who listened to your track, even if they listened a few months ago. And, if you want, you can see what other tracks they recently listened to, so you have even more possibilities for connection. Who knows? If somebody listened to a track three months ago that you were groovin’ on for the first time today, maybe they can provide some early pointers to other gems. Try it out.

MyStrands still offers the same great set of recommendations–differentiating between recommendations based on the single song you’re currently hearing, and the set of songs you’ve recently been playing. Playlist builder, another favorite MyStrands feature, helps you get the most out of your library by making recommendations that act locally. (But you can still think globally by uploading your new playlists to MusicStrands and sharing them with the community.)

Tag-matching provides another path to playlists–one that’s fast and potentially very personal. Imagine clicking once to get a playlist of the songs you’ve tagged as “Road Tunes,” then loading it into your player and heading down the highway with the perfect soundtrack for a cross country escape. Want to see what your music has inspired for others? The new MyStrands Tag Cloud feature lets you download tags that the MusicStrands community has assigned to tunes that appear in your library. If you haven’t had the time to assign your own tags, you can use community tags to build a playlist based on how others view your music. (How many tracks tagged “hacker trance” are in your library? You might be surprised.)

Speaking of trances, it’s getting late, and morning will come soon. I’ll sign off with a pointer to a favorite little pop song by New Zealander, Bic Runga. “Get Some Sleep” is from her second album, Beautiful Collision, and has the interesting distinction of being tagged as both a lullaby and a road song, I guess depending on mood. I hope it’s not both at once…

Happy discoveries.