You might as well start singing now: in this day and age, both hunting down tracks and discovering new ones has never been easier. Online services don’t just give you search results – they can both cultivate and be tailored to suit your musical tastes. Check out this brief synopsis of the best internet music engines out there – all of which are free – ranked in order of most straightforward and easy-to-use, to more complex and customizable.
1. Pandora
Subtitling itself the "Music Genome Project," Pandora was one the first services made to tailor to your musical preferences. You start by simply typing in a band or a song you like, and boom: you have a playlist. Or, as Pandora calls it, “(Your Favorite Band) Radio.” With each song that comes up in the queue, you, the listener, give either a thumbs up or thumbs down. Pandora takes your ratings for each song into account, using them to measure what musical elements you like, and then revises your queued playlist based on your preferences.
Advantages include the ability to earmark favorite songs, add variety to or change stations, and general ease of use. Disadvantages include a limit on the amount of songs you can skip and ads. You can save your settings by creating an account, but you don’t have to have one to use the service.
2. Grooveshark
If you’ve just discovered, say, The Kinks, or all you want to listen to is Radiohead, Grooveshark is the engine for you. Like Pandora, you can search by either song or artist, but instead of a station, you are given music search results and build your own playlist from there. If you want to listen to all the albums an artist ever made, or want to try a new band on for size, this is perfect: all you have to do is type in the name, click “Play All,” and you’re set.
Advantages include lack of ads that interrupt playback, the ability to save preferred songs and build playlists. The main disadvantage is the comparatively long time it takes to assemble a customized playlist.
3. Spotify
Spotify is the rising star of music engines. Unlike other music services, you actually have to download the program – and have a Facebook account – before you can use it. But the payoff is handsome: Spotify not only allows you to search on a by-the-whim basis, construct and keep playlists, and use radio stations that customize based on your input, but to accumulate a music library. The library is only available in Spotify, of course; songs are not downloaded and cannot be transferred to mp3 players, etc without purchase.
Spotify’s advantage lies in its well-roundedness: it possesses all the best features of both Pandora and Grooveshark, while maintaining an iTunes-like appearance. It also boasts some unique features, like the ability to send songs, along with a message, to other users directly, a homepage including access to newly-released albums, and the ability to see what your friends are listening to.
Some see the latter as music-stalking, and a drawback of the program. You can change privacy settings, but it’s something of a hassle, as is the necessity of possessing a Facebook account. The only objectively annoying disadvantages of Spotify, however, are the aggressive appearance of long-lasting ads that cannot be clicked away, as well as fairly frequent audio ads that interrupt playback. Ironically, some of the ads that pop up most are those reminding users an ad-free version of Spotify is available (…for a fee).
4. 8tracks
“Handcrafted internet radio” is the tagline 8tracks uses to brand itself, and proves delightfully appropriate. 8tracks operates on a mixtape premise – that is, playlists are not made by machine or some fancy algorithm, but created under genres and refreshing, real-life themes by other users. You search for mixes by inputting up to five tags: genres, decades, moods, or keywords rather than just songs and artists. Users can label their mixes however they see fit – so while indie, alternative rock, soundtrack or classical are standard tags, terms like 80s, melancholy, hipster, party, road trip, dance and awesome will also turn results. Better yet, each mix is given a title, a short description, and its own “album art” cover image, all custom-set by the user. You do not need an account to use this colorful music engine, but, like the others, registering will allow you to star your favorite songs, keep (trendy collage-style) tabs on your favorite mixes, and – oh yes – share your own mix with others!
8tracks makes for a diverse listening experience, guaranteed. Why? For one thing, a mix must be at least eight tracks, but can include no more than two by the same artist. This makes 8tracks perhaps the top choice for someone looking merely to explore. Also, good news for real-life DJs: because you can follow other users, 8tracks is ideal for cultivating an online musical following. But there’s one more thing all users can appreciate: there are no audio ads or pop-ups whatsoever.
Drawbacks include the inability to select specific songs for play; that you can’t preview the songs contained in a mix, or change their order; and that you can only skip two songs in a single mix per hour.
5. Musicovery
Musicovery is an unsung gem of an engine. In addition to the standard artist/song search bar, the front page features a “mood pad” which invites you to scroll over it. Dragging your mouse across this colorful box is like twisting a tuner through the channels, except you are navigating between four points: energetic, dark, calm, and positive. Click, and a radio queue forms. After that you can check or uncheck genres you want the play queue to include, as well as broaden or condense the range of decades it draws from. Like Grooveshark, Musicovery also features “Artist radio,” and, like 8tracks, “Widget” lets you share your favorite songs with others. And of course, with an account you can track your favorite songs and artists.
Perhaps the most unique feature of Musicovery is the Music Experiment Map. This is a timeline dotted with colored squares of various shapes and sizes; the timeline ranges from before the 1950s and up through the present, the size of the box indicates the popularity of a song, and the color corresponds to its genre. Scrolling over a square plays a sample clip and gives you a song name and artist.
Drawbacks include the inability to call up specific songs, change the queue’s order, or go back. There is also a limited number of skips. A fixed ad sits in the corner of the screen – it is silent and less obtrusive than other engines, but still can be bothersome.
If you’re ever again convinced the DJ has fallen asleep with the same the twenty songs on loop, wait no longer – turn off the radio and make your own music (list) using one of these fabulous engines. Happy listening!
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