Following Media Expo in October 2000, a convention for Internet media, Dorfman says he realized that though “other people were trying to do the same thing, it didn’t work as well.”

Helsinger agrees.

“A number of users were saying we have this uncanny ability to figure out what they liked,” Helsinger says. “They think their tastes are too complex and nuanced to be understood. And while it’s true that they’re complex and nuanced, it’s not true that no one can understand it.”

But it can be a hard idea to get used to, Helsinger says.

“The idea can make some people bristle a little bit,” Helsinger says. “They think, ‘How can a computer tell me what I like?’”

Pakulski, a MediaUnbound music analyst, says he is not sure how much real change the burgeoning company can effect, questioning how receptive the public will be to suggestions of less mainstream music.

“I feel like if you want to reach a wider audience, you have to dumb it down,” Pakulski says. “What I like about MediaUnbound, though, is that they try to make people a little better informed than just the most popular thing. But I’m too jaded to believe it can really change anything.”

Papish is more optimistic about how his company will benefit independent artists.

And there are those, even at MediaUnbound, who still espouse old-school values.

“My preferred way of listening to musice is to throw on a CD or an LP,” Pakulski said. “I still prefer the actual physical object.”

—Staff writer Eugenia B. Schraa can be reached at schraa@fas.harvard.edu.