5 sites

this is a playlist i made on playlist.com. it really comes in handy for when i work, or just sharing with people with any similar tastes

• playlist.com
• dublab
• amazon
• myspace music
• nme (good for music news)

Reviews of the previously mentioned sites:

I use many sites for music mainly, that offer many fun features and information. The web has definitely opened many avenues for me personally to my passion, music. The majority of music I’m interested receives little or no airtime on the radio or television, and is from other areas of the country and world, so these sites help bring the music to me.

1. playlist.com – users create an account and compile links to mp3 files. These songs are NOT downloaded, just a collection of links which can be organized in an infinite amount of playlists that hold 100 links each and is really pretty easy to use. The site has also started adding features of social networking to their site which is really exciting but dissappointing at the same time. Information about how to post your own song links to the site is still a little shady and difficult. Not many users take advantage of the blogging, or befriending, and finding other users with similar tastes is hard because featured playlists are judged only by popularity rather than common artists or songs. Their is a lot of potential I feel like with some of these new networking features, but it just hasn’t caught on really yet.
2. dublab.com – next up on the list is one of my favorite sites for music. It is an online radio station with videos, music and all kinds of podcasts and links to affiliated sites. What makes this particular radio station cool is its reputation, not only with people but mainly among the artists. Its a well respected internet radio site with a huge collection of personal live performances from bands all over the country, and some from outside the country, done just for dublab. I kinda pride myself on keeping my ears open for unheard talent, but these people have new artists performing almost daily, and a majority are people i’ve never heard of. The design and appearance and overall feel of the website is really hip and cool as well. For a large amount of information, dublab has done a good job of not letting the site become clustered like nme.com and at the same time doesn’t have an unending well of links just to get to what you want. Its a very good model for what i would like to incorporate into my own sites and projects in web design. If theres one thing i wish the site had more of, it would be user control, but again, its damn near a perfect online radio station as far as I can tell.
3. amazon.com – A famous website that I spend quite a bit of time on. I have purchased items on amazon but what I find it most useful for is the customer community and relating the searches to other products you “might find interesting”, because in fact, a lot of times i do find the other items interesting. Reviews are helpful as far as insite to what the music offers, but as with other things this runs a risk of people who have no clue what they’re talking about reviewing items, or people who buy into hype and declare every piece of music “classic” because it has the slightest bit of creativity. Listmania and “So you’d like to” lists offer a lot of outside suggestion, if you like that sorta thing, from other people who like the same items you do. So regardless of what you think about amazon as a website, it does offer a little bit deeper insight to what you’re buying as far as music, books, movies, as compared to a place like best buy, barnes and noble, virgin megastore etc. *To make my point* – About 80% of my playlist comes from artists i found on Amazon and Myspace i.e. Sam Sparro, Grandmaster Flash (the track, not the man), Can, Budos Band…
4. Myspace.com – I am a my space whore…guilty. not to stalk girls safely from the comfort of my own room, or see how many people i can get to comment on my pictures, or post idiotic bulletins about my last text message, my last kiss, or what item is next to me mind you, but to explore the musician network across the world. Myspace, I will unashamedly admit, has made my life a little bit better. Birds of a feather flock together and i suppose its no different with musicians. I’m not sure anymore how i survived before my space when it comes to music. The personalized page of an artist says more about them than a 20 page spin magazine article, and brings you 20 times closer. I enjoy reading the blogs, influences and affiliates, and looking at uploaded images that bands use to represent themselves. Myspace can be childish, but it can still be awesome, and if you don’t think so, you probably just don’t have anyway to apply it to your life. Just this week i went to a concert in Denton: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti and I loved it, but I don’t think i would have ever known had it not been for them posting it on their myspace page. Tour info is coming more and more from myspace for me than anywhere else including the observer like in the past. Nobody is going to take more interest in the promotion and posting of tour info of a band than the band itself. Add a couple of bands that you want to keep tabs on to your friends list and you will know release dates, concert dates and other additional information before any newspaper. Myspace’s friend updates make it possible.
5. NME.com – Last and not least, NME. It’s a british magazine actually, but they keep the site updated when it comes to new info, sound clips, interviews and news. the organization of info though, to me, seems a bit out of control, you can find articles and interviews with almost any artist, but some posts may be up to 2 years old or more and theres just no way of knowing sometimes how current what you’re reading is. Informing site however