10 of the Best Web Apps for Music Lovers

It's truly a great time to be a music lover online, as a host of startups, independent musicians, and creative thinkers are increasingly banding together to re-invent the music industry for the digital age. More mainstream artists and labels, although slower to catch on, are also stepping in to solve lingering licensing problems and legal disputes that have plagued music's transition to the online world. In other words, the stars are finally aligning for artists and music lovers everywhere, and there's no shortage of great web apps, services and sites out there for discovering new music or just listening to your current favorites. Read on for ten of our top picks for music lovers to get their fix online.



1. Pandora
If you just want to quickly load up some tunes you're highly likely to enjoy, Pandora is one of the staple web-based choices. Using its painstakingly crafted database of musical traits, Pandora can recommend and stream other artists and songs based on the input you give it. Plus, you can take Pandora with you on the go on a wide variety of mobile platforms including Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Palm webOS. If you're already a user of Pandora looking for some power tips to find new music and spice up your existing stations, check out our guide to getting more out of Pandora.
 


2. last.fm
If you're looking for a full-featured streaming and social music site that also extensively tracks your listening habits, check out CBS Interactive-owned Last.fm. Installing a small "scrobbling" application sends any music you listen to locally (or on your portable music player) back up to your last.fm profile, creating a detailed view of your music collection over time. An extensive recommendation system can play other artists you might like, and an active listener community socializes via group forums and shoutbox-style commenting.

 3. TheSixtyOne
Despite a recent controversial redesign, TheSixtyOne remains another great streaming and discovery site for music lovers. Featuring a visual simplicity in layout and user interface, t61 surfaces the most popular tracks by genre as voted on by users who spend "hearts" to promote tracks and complete "quests" to accrue reputation and achieve "levels" on the site. Artists can also offer downloads and albums for free or for sale, with Creative Commons licensing optionally supported.

 4. Hype Machine
The Hype Machine tracks hundreds of music blogs and aggregates any included MP3 links into a streamable one-stop collection on the site's front page. Users can "heart" tracks and collaboratively vote on what MP3s make the "most favorited" chart of the last 3 days or the last week. A separate "Twitter Music Chart" tracks the MP3s most tweeted by users who have connected Hype Machine to their Twitter accounts. Beyond simply surfacing new popular tracks and trends, Hype Machine is also a great way to discover some new music blogs for your rounds.

 5. Blip.fm
You can think of blip.fm as Twitter for DJs. Simply search the index for a track or video you want to share and "blip" it out to other users who follow you. Toggle between listening to all users or just your favorite DJs via the constantly-streaming player, and tie in your other social services like Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and more to broadcast your blips. As both a personally-programmed Internet radio station and a discovery engine powered by your friends, Blip.fm is a fun twist on web-based apps for music lovers.

 6. Grooveshark
If you primarily want to search and stream songs you like on demand, check out Grooveshark. Featuring an extensive library of millions of tracks uploaded by users themselves, Grooveshark doesn't face as many of the song availability issues that other streaming sites who simply index from around the web tend to deal with. Creating an account gives you the ability to save and edit playlists, save favorites, and connect with other users to share tracks and libraries.

 7. Slacker Radio
For an extensive collection of pre-programmed Internet radio stations alongside the ability to create your own custom streams, check out Slacker Radio. With a freemium business model whose subscription cost nets you ad-free listening and other features, Slacker also offers mobile support for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and Palm webOS, plus partnerships with other hardware vendors to enable Slacker on the Logitech Squeezebox and other Internet-connected players and TVs.

 8. MOG.com
Historically a network of music blogs, MOG.com recently launched a paid subscription service for $5 a month all-you-can-eat music streaming. Featuring celebrity playlists, easy list management and storage, and extensive news and reviews, MOG combines on-demand radio listening with a social music community and customizable personal profiles. You can try out the All Access music service for a free 3-day trial, and access music news and reviews regardless of subscription status.

 9. SoundCloud
SoundCloud is a favored distribution platform for many artists and labels both mainstream and independent to share tracks, remixes, and full DJ sets online. Artists benefit from extensive stats on their listened and downloaded tracks, plus easily embeddable widgets for sharing songs. Listeners benefit from exploring the collections of hot tracks and recent tracks, with the ability to leave comments at specific points within a song.

 10. ReverbNation
Featuring a number of excellent tools for independent artists and music lovers alike, ReverbNation is a great clearinghouse of up and coming acts. Listeners can customize radio stations based on genre, featured artists, and even location -- making it a convenient way to discover local talent in your area. Artists, labels, and venues can make use of ReverbNation's built-in tools for marketing, promotions, street teams, merchandise and album sales and more for do-it-yourself music and venue management.

Top Image Credit: Malu Green!
 
What's your favorite music web app? Tell us about it in the comments.

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