As you can see, I've added Vod:Pod feed to my blog. Pressing the videos on the widget on your right will play them without leaving this site.

I see this feed as another method of content discovery. I will present there only shows that I find entertaining, interesting and worth watching.

The first three shows I've added are my all time favorites: Something To Be Desired, We Need Girlfriends, and Romeo Theater.

Hope you'll enjoy these shows as much as I do.

This is also an open call for producers - please tell me about your shows - I'll add the ones I like best to the widget, as well as interview the creators.

Enjoy your weekend.

Kfir Pravda

[digg http://digg.com/music/find_the_music_and_films_with_Personal_Recommendations/blog]I love new things. Really. I find the adventure of being introduced to a new film, artist, or musician quite amazing.

But there is so much of them out there - video artists, video producers, Indie musicians - how can I find what I like?

This problem is not only mine - it is a key issue in the industry as a whole. One way of solving it is by technology- companies are trying to develop the best recommendation engine ever, in a hope to identify what I like. I've also touched this topic in my Podcamp discussions about Internet TV.

I've found that personal recommendation shows are working much better for me than any of the solutions out there today. And no, I am not talking about sharing my favorite film list with my contacts.

There are several shows where artists introduce other artists based on their purely subjective taste. That's the best part in my opinion. As these shows are not trying to introduce good artists, but only what they see as good, they add a personal dimension that creates an emotional attachment, even if they didn't mean to. Instead of a faceless search engine, I have a real person, that I can interact with, who introduces me to new artists.

Here are 3 great examples (and my favorite personal recommendation shows):

SMtv - I've met Samantha Murphy at the Facebook Vloggers group. She was the first one offering her help, which I've immediately appreciated. Samantha has a great podacst, where she recommends Indie artists, and interviews them about their music and life. I was lucky to find the amazing band 8MM, that has exactly the right sound for me (unfortunately, they don't allow to download their music from emusic outside of the US). Though called SMtv, Samantha is doing an audio only show.

Mike O'Hara's Fishbowl Acoustic - I've met Mike at Podcamp Europe, and was impressed by his ideas. He shared, again on Facebook, a short video clip of Sound Sanctuary, with his introduction. The personal angle made the difference for me. I know Mike, he is on my buddy list in Facebook, and shared his video with me. The fact that he took the time to record his own view on this band also made a difference.

Romeo Theater - I came across John Romeo's show while using TVTonic. John is doing a great job at finding short form films and introducing them to his viewers. I found some interesting stuff there too - this one I like the most.

It is yet to be seen if these shows will attract enough viewers and listeners to become an economically valid operation on its own, but I am certain that they provide great value today to artists and listeners alike.

What do YOU think? do you know additional shows like that? did you drop by the ones I've mentioned? Please share your experience.

Technorati Tags: content discovery, Mike O'hara, Samantha Murphy, Sound Sanctuary, 8mm, smtv, Facebook