I feel your pain [I'm air high-fiving you]. I have a nearly identical situation and frustration, and it's not just with music files. Today I tried disabling OOB Searching, Chat, and Player, and that *seemed* to make my searches a little more similar to what they used to be. Not sure which if any of those changes might've done it, if any. Could've been a coincidence.

Like you I'm beginning to suspect it may have something to do w/ change(s) in the topology of the network and LW, such as the ultrapeer thing f'rinstance. They seem to have solved a lot of the problems LW used to have, and they say they've made the network more efficient, but I'm wondering if they've also reduced our access to the wider network somehow, in the process.

Good luck, and pls post again in this thread if you ever figure out how to get back to those old search results.