Described as an intelligent and interactive portal, The Filter is designed to help surfers discover new music, film and web video based on the their individual tastes and preferences.

Gabriel, one of the visionaries behind The Filter, told Web User that the new service will enable surfers to become 'life jockeys' by recommending the types of digital entertainment they want.

He said that the first freedom the internet brought was the possibility of access to any content, at any time, or anywhere. However Gabriel now believes we are drowning in choice.

"We need good tools to help us make smart decisions," Gabriel added.

He said The Filter, which uses proprietary artificial intelligence to make recommendations, is the type of smart tool needed for today's digital world.

Its database currently has more than 5 million songs and 333,000 movies and will continue to grow as more users join.

Surfers who join The Filter will be first asked to undertake a brief taste-profiling exercise to determine their favourite type of music and video.

Members will then receive a daily homepage of music, film and web video recommendations, all personalised to their taste.

The Filter is the latest entry into a crowded playing field of online recommendation engines joining the likes of Pandora.com, Last.fm and even YouTube. But unlike these sites The Filter aims to be more expansive by including music as well as video and TV content.

The Filter is free to join and is web-based so it can be accessed from any browser. In keeping with developments in semantic technology, surfers will also be able to import their online profile sites such as Last.fm or Flixster - thereby supplying The Filter with even more information which will improve over all filtering and recommendations.

Gabriel also hopes that The Filter will help young and emerging artists as it will act as a 'curator' site. He said that the internet, and sites like The Filter, are a "huge force for democratising music", allowing people everywhere to access to any artists output.

www.thefilter.com

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