Related Artists: The Related Artists feature of CDNOW works on the assumption that if a customer likes a certain performer, there is a group of artists with similar styles that she will also like. Customers locate an artist and select the Related Artists link. Upon doing so, they are provided with a list of these artists who are considered to be "similar artists" and a list of artists who are considered to be among the "roots and influences" for the selected artist.
Buyer’s Guides: The Buyer’s Guide feature at CDNOW allows customers to receive recommendations based on a particular genre of music. Customers browse a list of genres provided by the site, including categories such as British Invasion, Big Chilling, and Parent Pop. Selecting one of the links from this list takes customers to a new list of albums the editors consider the essential part of this genre.
Artist Picks: In the Similar Artist feature at CDNOW one of the categories of recommendations is “roots and influences.”
Presumably editors create this list. The Artist Picks feature provides similar recommendations, directly from the artists. Each week a different artist is featured, who lists the albums that shaped his or her taste as well as what is currently in their CD player.
Top 100: Traditionally, hype and “bestseller” status have been used by commerce sites to make recommendations to their customers. After all, if an album is on the Billboard Top 10, then it must be a good album. The Top 100 feature allows customers of CDNOW to receive this type of recommendation, but the 100 are drawn from the sales figures of the site and can theoretically be continuously upgraded to reflect actual sales.
My CDNOW: My CDNOW enables customers to set up their own music store, based on albums and artists they like. Customers indicate which albums they own, and which artists are their favorites. Purchases from CDNOW are entered automatically into the “own it” list. Although “own it” ratings are initially treated as an indication of positive likes, customers can go back and distinguish between “own it and like it” and “own it but dislike it.” When customers request recommendations, the system predicts six albums the customer might like based on what is already owned. Feedback is provided by customers selecting “own it,” “move to wish list” or “not for me” for any of the albums in this prediction list. The albums recommended change based on the feedback. Figure 2 shows a sample screen from My CDNOW.