'Fantastically useful, this thing is real fun'.

(From Western Daily Press)

He went from Genesis to a Sledgehammer and became a guru of world music, but now West legend Peter Gabriel is pioneering a very 21st century innovation in music - a computer which knows what music you like.

Called The Filter, it uses special mathematics developed in the search for artificial intelligence. Yesterday the Wiltshire-based musician said it was the realisation of a vision he had had for years, for a computer system which learns what kind of music you prefer, and even suggests new artists you may like.

For internet whizzes, it is known as a interactive portal which provides a holistic approach to filtering out irrelevant content and filtering in content based on an individual's tastes.

In layman's terms, the former Genesis star said it was the best way of preventing a computer user "drowning in choice" when they try to find things they like on the internet.

The Filter is a website people join. When they do, they answer questions - what internet geeks call a "brief taste-profiling exercise"- which allows the website to work out what kind of music fan users are.

But people are complex: Sometimes if they are feeling nostalgic, they like golden oldies, and other times they like pop. So The Filter can even assess what kind of mood a user's in, and adapt accordingly. And the more you use it, the more the website will learn what kind of things you like - and it will then be able to recommend new music that you may like too.