Spotify Makes Us Hungry for Playlists

With peer-to-peer music sharing platform Spotify gaining attention and whetting the American palate for US inclusion, one can’t help but reminisce of the Muxtape and Mixwit days before the RIAA shut that shit down. Back in middle school, we made mixtapes (well, depending on the year you were enrolled, or repeating those grades). And, in high school, mix CDs proved our hip factor to the world. Sure, there are still those of us who invest the time and energy in making and distributing mix CDs, but usually once the time comes to burn your masterpiece, the apartment/officewide hunt for blank CDs begins. Forget that noise -- making playlists online is the most magical way to share your musical taste and gain cred for being in the know and possessing the skill to make a good list.

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Yes, there are pros and cons of the online platforms, and sadly none have the same fun factor that Mixwit did (Pick a skin for your tape?!? Make it as retro as you wanted?!? Watch the wheels turn as music played?!?).  This isn’t a subversive measure to discouraging pirating, but rather, a hopefully helpful guide to encourage the golden rule. Or the sharing rule. One of those things we learned in Kindergarten—definitely when mix tapes were in. Here’s how we do.

● Playlist.com, powered by Project Playlist, wins for straightforward interface and simplicity. Make an account in less than a minute and you’re ready to build playlists that are easily shared and embedded. The only problem is that finding songs takes time, as search results are organized in a somewhat confusing manner. Still worth the effort.

● Rhapsody.com offers unlimited access to music for $12.99 a month (including 25 free songs, connect from mp3), and a free trial for 14 days, once you cough up your credit card info. Once you set yourself up, it’s simple to click to add songs to playlists, and easily share-able with Rhapsody URL.

● Jamglue.com puts mix-makers in the DJ driver’s seat. This is definitely the most involved of all our sampled sites and targeted to the aspiring DJ. Remix songs, embed your mixes on other sites, upload and record tracks and combine and edit tracks and mixes of your own or from other users. You can change the speed, tempo, mute one track or another, play tracks simultaneously, zoom in to have fine-grained control over clip positioning, adjust speaker control. On your homepage, you can add an image and allow other users to see your personal info, very MySpace-esque. Every time you make a mix, an alert is sent out to your dedicated Jamglue fans. Not ideal if you’re aiming for a quick throw together.

● We had the most goshdarn fun on Blip.fm that uses a Twitter format with status updates called “Blips,” Users build a station by entering artists they like and are referred to as “DJ,” then establish a following through the music they share. Incredibly interactive, easy to follow on-screen instructions, with the ability to listen to music on their playlists (or random song selections). Playlists can be saved and shared with other users.

● On 8tracks.com, making a mix is simple, and straightforward. There’s a catch, though. When playing your mix, the following message pops up: Our music license requires us to initially limit this Network track to 30 seconds when you listen to your own mix. Your listeners will hear the full track. Annoying, right? You can download tracks from shared mixes on Amazon (not free of charge) and buy an entire album or specific songs. You can keep your mixes private or share publicly. Like Pandora, there’s also a limit on the number of songs you can skip on other user’s mixes.