If you really need to know...MOG.com shows you what's on your favorite artist's iPod.

John Jurgensen wrote an article that appeared last weekend in the Wall Street Journal about how you can find out what tunes your favorite musician is listening to. A fave of "The Time Machine", Jolie Holland, displays her musical enjoyment for; Townes Van Zandt, Lucinda Williams, Tom Waits, Catherine Irwin, Jimmy Rogers, Shane MacGowan, Willie Nelson and Roger Miller


How to find out what's on your favorite rocker's iPod
By JOHN JURGENSEN
November 11, 2006


As a fan of indie-rock band Death Cab for Cutie, Justin Koeppen has bought all of the group's albums and pored over the lyrics written by front man Ben Gibbard. Now, Mr. Koeppen has a new way to access Mr. Gibbard's music -- a Web site that tracks the contents of the singer's iPod. "He has quality taste," says Mr. Koeppen.


MOG.com, a site that links its users by displaying the digital music stored on their computers, has gotten a boost from an influx of rock luminaries. Members of bands such as Nada Surf, Gomez and Deerhoof -- popular acts among bloggers, rock critics and college radio stations -- aren't only promoting their own music on MOG but using the site's software to reveal whose music they have in rotation at home. For Mr. Gibbard, that includes '80s synth-poppers the Pet Shop Boys and singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson.

For the five-month-old MOG, which is still in its "beta" testing mode, persuading respected musicians to give the world a glimpse of their personal playlists is part of a larger strategy to compete with other online music communities. The expanding field is dominated by MySpace, which has become a ubiquitous marketing tool in the music industry. Rival sites are trying to court users by focusing on narrow music genres or offering clever features.

On MOG, which says about 18,000 people have joined so far, new members download software that scans their computer's hard drive for music files and then displays that inventory on their personal MOG page. The software tallies the tunes members play most frequently. Users can't stream or download the music on their fellow members' computers.

Along with this voyeuristic tool, MOG is using well-known names as bait. Its nine-person staff includes a full-time "chief evangelist" whose main job is persuading artists to sign up. "There's a good chance they're going to bring along their installed fan base," says David Hyman, MOG's founder and chief executive.

The strategy has its flaws. Because MOG doesn't pay its famous members to participate, Mr. Hyman says, they aren't obligated to update their pages. For example, singer Michelle Shocked last logged on Sept. 25.

HOW TO FIND IT: Go to MOG.com and click on "Artist MOGs."