The websites in this section help you find MP3s, assist in promotion for bands/artists, connect you to live music & ticketing, offer place-shifting for your media (PC-to-PC, PC-to-mobile phone), stream music, and/or offer video discovery. Others, are fantastic recommendation engines or social & sharing platforms.
turntable.fm
Discover new music, meet fellow music lovin’ individuals, become a virtual DJ
[website]
Sign into this free service, select a room and immediately start listening to some great songs being spun by, well, someone just like you. Using a simple Flash game-like interface, you can lurk in rooms with others (simulated bobbing heads, avatars of the people in the room, are a hoot!) and simply enjoy the beats, opt to chat with others in real time, and vote whether you think the music being spun is "lame or "awesome"...simple, silly, and definitely fun.
Of course, with a name like turntable.fm, there's no doubt you can fully utilize this site by creating/becoming a DJ. Create a playlist through the site’s astounding inventory of music or upload your own tunes. After filling your DJ queue, join the DJ panel and watch as the crowd applauds or boos the tracks being spun. The more accolades you acquire, the more Flash products you unlock. Turntable.fm provides an engaging and innovative way to actively participate in a social media inclined music community. The only drawback: As of late July, you need to sign in with Facebook or you have to request/obtain an invite to participate.
REVIEWED BY REBECCA SWANEY
Muspy.com
Instant and effortless — receive new release updates.
[website]
Never miss a new album release from your favorite bands again. Muspy is a free service that utilizes the MusicBrainz database to provide immediate updates on new releases — albums, EPs, LPs, singles, reissues, etc. — from your favorite artists/bands. It takes only a moment to register and the site’s simple interface easily allows you to add and maintain artists; to decide what release information you’d like to receive; and how you want that information to be delivered (RSS feed or Email). Bonus: if you’re a Last.fm user, you can easily import your most listened to artists from your Last.fm account into Muspy with the click of a button.
REVIEWED BY REBECCA SWANEY
ThrillCall.com
Follow and find events—when and where—your favorite artists perform
[website]
For those enjoy socializing around their musical identity there is ThrillCall.com, which allows you to share your acoustic preferences and also offers a robust event finding and ticket selling service. Some of its best features include the ability to follow artists and view their upcoming events instantly each time you log in, as well as a map of nearby dining options placed conveniently below each venue’s info page. The interface is clean and intuitive and seamlessly transports the user from section to section with plenty of relevant links to take you back to band, venue, or event info pages on a whim. Another great feature is their email service where signing up allows you receive advance notice of your favorite artists’ shows in your area.
There are minor technical issues that somewhat hamper the intuitive potential of ThrillCall including the lack of pricing or even ticket availability from prominently linked resources like TickerMaster.com, which consistently them at almost half the competitor’s offerings. This also isn’t necessarily the best way to find out about shows with less established bands, although it might make finding tickets easier if that band does reside in their database. We were also asked if we would like to follow the upcoming events of three comedians who happen to be deceased, and for the record the answer is yes, we would like to see Bill Hicks, Mitch Hedberg, and George Carlin live please.
Ultimately though, the whole of the service is thorough, usable, and it offers great facilities. With the right community, ThrillCall.com could easily grow into a popular social media outlet that also happens to connect you to live events with your favorite artists.
REVIEWED BY JACOB HOPKINS
Shuffler.fm
Effortlessly explore the music of the music blogoshpere
[website]
Shuffler.fm is just such a service and it certainly accomplishes what it’s set out to do, and that is genuinely connect music junkies to what they crave: the music. The main page greets you with only a 6x3 grid of genres to choose from (that can be alternated for up to 108 options) and little else. Choose something and it will immediately take you to a random music blog and play a song mentioned on that blog in an unobtrusive bar on top of the page (from which you can pause and skip as well). Once it’s finished, you are automatically taken to the next song and website. So while you listen to something new, you also get a unique perspective on it from an independent source. It’s an experience whose authenticity likely cannot be matched elsewhere.
The song collection is superb and there are far more offerings from independent artists than otherwise. Unfortunately, the blogs that accompany them is where Shuffler sometimes fails to deliver, and it’s not uncommon to be taken to one that has nothing to offer but a link to the track that is already playing for you. There are also a few sites that may contain questionable content or that are just plain eye sores and you may not appreciate being torn from what you’re reading if a song ends before you finish, but these complaints really are minor nuisances considering what the service has to offer.
Shuffler.fm is an extremely effective facility for real fans of new music and the culture that surrounds it. With a little more quality control on the blogs and some additional networking features, it might even become close enough to perfect. But as it stands it’s already pretty close.
REVIEWED BY JACOB HOPKINS
ArtistData
A tool for musicians and agents of musicians to manage social media
[website]
If you are an artist or someone who wants to manage data for ONE artist—OR
you work for a label, management company, or agency that has a roster of MANY artists—you may want to give this site a look. ArtistData provides a great platform for managing and synchronizing the broadcast of news, status updates, and show/concert information across the social media stratosphere including MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and many more. They have a Base plan which offers the artist/band free of charge which gives you the option to have shows submitted to the top concert databases. Their Gold and Platinum packages are $9.99 and $24.99 respectively and give you expanded capabilities. The great news is that ArtistData was recently acquired by Sonicbids and they are offering these plans free of charge until September 1, 2010.
8tracks
Even you can be a DJ...discover & share music through mixes
[website]
KISS—keeping it simple (is) smart—the 8tracks way. This site offers an easy way for people to share and discover music through an online mix—a short playlist—containing at least 8 tracks. On 8tracks, people can do two basic things: listen to a mix or create a mix. Listeners can search for a mix by artist or genre, stream it in a legal, radio-style manner, and follow others who make compelling, had-crafted mixes. There are some limitations to deal with as a listener due to licensing constraints, but this actually complements the intended experience of the site. You can only skip through 2 songs per mix, per hour ‘forcing’ you to sit (or stand or dance) through the mystery of what the “DJ” plays next. Coincdentally—or not—8tracks refers to it’s users that create mixes as “DJs.” There’s no limitation on a listener’s ability to skip through mixes and there’s an easy opportunity to follow you favorite DJs and be followed by people who really dig your taste in music, as well as a chance to like and comment on specific mixes.
Gigzee
Easily find local live music
[website]
Easily, indeed! If you’re in the mood for live music tonight, simply type in your city or zip code into Gigzee's main page (top image) and find multiple listings of shows taking place today (bottom image). You’ll be presented with all the pertinent gig information for shows/performers—both large and small. It includes an interactive Google map plus links to find out more info on the performer, (fed from the last.fm database) and a venue profile page where you’ll discover future shows they’ll be hosting, as well. 
Swift.fm
Extending the functionality of Twitter for music sharing & discovery
[website]
If you Tweet and you’re a music junkie like us (if you’re reading this on Groovemine, we know you are!), then this app is for you. Swift.fm is built on top of Twitter so there’s no need to send invites, find fans, or request followers. The number of social media apps are growing exponentially, so it’s great to come across a tool like this that works with your existing network.
You can share music using Swift.fm by uploading tracks to their servers (great for musicians!), browsing the music that already exists in their library of music or list of links, or by linking to music found elsewhere on the web. Tweet about any piece of music or artist directly from Swift.fm. It has the bit.ly function/app conveniently embedded to shorten URLs.
There are a couple of great ways discover music on Swift.fm that are especially worth highlighting. “My Swiftlist” is an auto-playing list of all the songs the people you follow have swifted. The list plays through all of the music they have shared automatically like a radio station or any other passive-listening web music service. Discover music outside of your personal followers by creating or exploring lists, or “channels,” of music on specific genres, from certain artists or exciting topics. Anyone can create a channel or add to one by adding a hashtag (a word preceded by a ”˜#’ sign) to the description of any swift-tweet. This should be very familiar to any frequent tweeter. The right sidebar has a link to existing channels. Clicking on any of these channels pulls up a playlist where you can stream, favorite, or retweet about of the tracks you discover.
Flokoon
A music discovery application taking a visual approach
[website]
At first glance/first click, Flokoon is a music discovery application with very few words. Typing in your favorite artist/band produces a thumbnail image of the artist which sprouts a tree graph of artists who connect to your choice. The branch artists have either collaborated with the artist/band or they have similar sounding music. You grow your tree of related artists discovering new ones along the way. Hovering over each thumbnail produces a dropdown graphic menu of options offering bios, popular tags and top fans
Flokoon doesn’t allow you to directly play music on its site, perhaps its biggest downfall, if one wanted to be critical. Its data, however, is powered to Last.fm, so clicking “read more” button found in the short bios takes you directly to Last.fm, where you can listen to and download the music.
Music Nomad
An indispensable resource for DIY musicians
[website]
Similar to Groovemine.com, Music Nomad is set-up to be a jumping off point— specifically, though, for do-it-yourself musicians. If that is you, then you should know that the site is filled with listings of helpful resources to produce, sell, and support your music. It's a clearly delineated directory of all kinds of qualified organizations offering goods, services, contacts, and other helpful information. It's very easy to find what you need...think of it as an indispensable yellow pages for musicians.
SoundCloud
In a similar role Flickr plays for photography, SoundCloud is a great tool for music makers, as well as folks just browsing for fresh earfood.
[website]
SoundCloud is an online audio platform catering to music professionals, enabling them to collaborate, promote and distribute their music online in a simple, accessible and feature-rich way. SoundCloud allows music makers to upload large audio files, embed those tracks on websites and blogs, share them publicly (including via Twitter) or only to specified contacts, and gives listeners the ability to comment on specific parts of the recording directly from the SoundCloud player (see screenshot above).
Also of note, their blog contains posts and interviews with professionals regarding the ways that various web resources (usually in tandem with SoundCloud) can be used to enhance one's musical production or promotion. They also post remix contests and other things music makers may be interested in.
REVIEWED BY IAN RICH
Fluid Radio
A solid resource for the experimental music lover
[website]
Fluid Radio hosts two radio channels playing "experimental frequencies" in various flavors as well as album reviews, artist and label profiles and mixes for those looking for something off the beaten path. Two sections we especially like are Downloads and Films. The Download section offers access to full-length albums, and the Film section provides music videos and films about some of the bands themselves.
REVIEWED BY IAN RICH
Stereo Mood
Operable with one click, this easy-to-use mood-based streaming site provides a great selection of indie music
[website]
I think I am in love with Stereomood.com. What a novel idea! Stereomood is a mood-based music streaming site, or in other words a ”˜mood-based internet radio’. It is easy to use and offers some perks that Pandora doesn’t.
There is nothing to figure out. Go to www.stereomood.com, click on one of the moods and you can start listening without even having to set up an account. If you do decide to set up an account (which is very easy), you can then create your own playlists, moods (i.e. stations), or even add a song of your choice to an existing mood.
Here’s the other great thing. You can skip as many songs as you would like (unlike Pandora), and look ahead to see what songs are in the ”˜mood’ mix. You can even shuffle the already predetermined mix.
One more awesome thing that sets this site apart is the song selections. The people at Stereomood reach out to music blogs from all around the world to create their playlists. The resulting song mixes are eclectic combining artists that are known with indie artists to completely unknown artists. They have a list of links to all of the blogs that they use as well.
If your emotional (like me) and love music and discovering new music I think you may be about to meet the music website of your dreams. Do yourself a favor and check it out!
REVIEWED BY LYNN SHER
Radio One Llama
A fantastic search engine to find and listen to internet radio
[website]
When you want to go outside your own music collection, the route of internet radio where real people (as opposed to a Pandora-type of site) are making decisions about programming is, increasingly, a great route to go. The number of radio streams are multiplying and Radio One Llama allows you to search for a station in a variety of ways: via artists you like, genres, or location in the world...yes, the world!
The site is so easy-to-use, it's not worth explaining too much. The first image above shows our search for a station based using an act that we've covered here on Groovemine, Letting Up Despite Great Falls. The stations that have played their music appear below the search field. Clicking on any of the live links launches a station's current stream within the window, which is identified above along with tracks/artists the station has recently played. We'd recommend staying away the "popularity" tab as you'll get suggestions based on ultra-pop music, new and old. The "genre" tab presents options as pretty as the Periodic Table of the Elements (see second image above). The "location" tab is, perhaps, the most amazing thing about the site as it presents you with a map powered by Google, allowing you to zoom in on a geography-based selection.
Oh, and you can use this great site on your iPhone.
The Sixty One
A visually engaging discovery site despite some design drawbacks
[website]
Named after Highway 61, a U.S. route that runs along the Mississippi River and marks the origin of American music culture. Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan and B.B. King rode the 61. Elvis grew up in the housing projects along it. Highway 61 was the road by which people left their homes to take their music to the world. That, said, the music found here isn't all classic Americana.
The qualities that come to mind when thinking about this site are: visual, confusing, and engaging. Visual because a large background image fills the entire browser window with remarkable effect, often a photograph of the artist who's music is playing, sometimes it's album art. Other related images, additional photography, biography factoids, or concert dates randomly appear, overlapping the background image sometime with transparency. The site is a bit confusing because the navigation is atypical either because of its location or labeling, which isn't always a bad thing in and of itself. Regardless of 'where' you are on the site, it always looks the same, as described previously. We couldn't figure out how to work some of the functionality that appears to be straightforward at first glance, for example setting up a playlist. In spite of all that is confusing, we spent a lot of time on the site. The visual design (almost) renders the music you hear an extension of your experience rather than the focus, which is refreshing.
What about the music? Quality indie stuff you may have never heard of before that fits perfectly with music from major indie faves also present on the site like Andrew Bird, Iron & Wine, and Besnard Lakes. Not sure how all of the collection is curated, but there is an option to register as an artist (or as an agent of one) allowing you upload music and photos. Some of the music is for sale but, this is another area we find confusing. It seems you have to purchase credits to buy each song yet somewhere on the site we found the claim: "Unlike a record or distribution deal where they only make $1-2 per album (if they ever get paid, that is), artists on thesixtyone make at least $7 per album and are paid every 30 days—no wait for recoupment and no complex royalty schemes!" The option to buy an album was unapparent.
In general, this site looks like it was conceived of and designed by a team of smart ADDers and, perhaps, it's just a matter of time that they resolve some of the things we find confusing about the site. It's definitely worth your time exploring despite our perceived drawbacks.
The Crypt Sessions
Intimate HD video portraits of acoustic artists, new and old
[website]
On a long drive home from a lousy day working in the rain, sound recordist and studio owner Rick Barber and Cameraman Bjorn Ventris decided that there had to be a better way to combine their skills. Inspired by Black Cab Sessions and From the Basement, The Crypt Sessions was born out of a need to provide quality content for a few artists that we were working with at the time. Early 'guinea pigs' ManOrMouse? and Matthew Neel came in to perform while The Crypt Sessions honed their set. Soon they were inundated with requests from labels, artists, PR companies etc all hoping to get a slot. The sessions are shot in HD and recorded by engineer/producer Matt Sime (Feeder, Moloko, The Boo Radleys) The Crypt Sessions aim to create an intimate acoustic performance from artists both new and established.
A podcast is available from iTunes as well as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Myspace.
Well-Rounded Radio
Podcasts containing in-depth interviews & music of
innovative indie music providers
[website]
If you're an active consumer/junkie of independent music, hungry for the story behind the music, you need to check out this site. Well-Rounded Radio connects listeners to great music happening outside the mainstream, gives them a behind-the-scenes look at its creation, and lets them sample it within each interview. Composed as a podcast, you can stream directly from the website or subscribe via an RSS feed. The site is organized by episode, each one devoted to an artist, producer, or someone working behind the scenes to deliver great music like Episode 056 with Jeff Price, founder and CEO of Tunecore or Episode 058 featuring one of the founders of Amie Street, Josh Boltuch. Some of the more recognizable artists that have been interviewed include Antibalas, Mission of Burma, Pylon, and Jill Sobule. In written words, you find the background of the interviewee, a summary of the discussion, and a tracklist of the music featured on the podcast. The "Recommendations" link at the top of any episode takes you to the same page where you find linked suggestions of music to investigate, seminars to attend, websites to browse, and more—don't forget to visit this page! 
Cloudspeakers
An aggregator and discovery tool
[website]
Cloudspeakers is an aggregator linking to legal audios, videos and reviews from a variety of music sites. It's presentation streamlined in form and function than and couldn't be any easier to use, especially if you know the artist(s) you want to research or listen to. They do have two feed lists on the home page (top screen above) of what is "fresh" and "hot" from which you can browse, but the breadth of what can be obtained on Cloudspeakers comes from what you request in the search field. Type in your favorite band/artist and you come to a profile page (bottom screen above) with an excerpt of a their bio found on (and linked to) last.fm, an expandable list of excerpted reviews of the artist from blogs and magazines, a slide presentation of their discography, and a list of other "relevant" artists. A similar page appears when you click on an album cover. All pages have an embedded media player accommodating both audio and video. The site remarkably easy to navigate—very similar to Cowbell.fm.
StumbleAudio
A recommendation engine with superior interface design
[website]
If you get off on discovering music from independent, perhaps unsigned, artists you've never heard of via a perfectly designed interface, then check out StumbleAudio. Interaction with StumbleAudio feels more like you're using a portable music device rather than interacting with your PC. Browse their library by genre or type your favorite artist in the search field at the top and be presented with music that supposedly sounds similar your entry. In either case, albums are presented on a virtual CD carousel for you to listen to in their entirety. If you decide to purchase the album, there are links on the right side of the screen taking you to retail outlets offering MP3s or CDs. The main drawback of the site seems to be the limitations of the search function. It did not produce any results for a handful the indie artists that we typed in. We expect they're working on it, so bookmark this site and visit often.
IndieFeed
Curated, free MP3 feeds
[website]
IndieFeed provides a curated selection of free MP3s organized in five broad genres of indie pop, hip hop, electronica, dance, and blues. Our first inspection found a good selection music from emerging indie artists that we've heard of along with some that seemed quite obscure. Part of what makes them somewhat unique is the ability for you to listen and download the MP3s directly from the site or to automatically receive downloads through RSS syndication as podcasts in iTunes and Zune or other media aggregators. The one thing we didn't like is the intro to every MP3 (podcast) identifying "IndieFeed" and it's corporate sponsor although, we couple this comment by acknowledging the need for anything indie to make money.
Slacker
Award-winning internet and mobile radio
[website]
Sleekly designed (think Harley Davidson), extremely user-friendly, Slacker is an internet radio site with nearly 100 genre-based stations. You can add to their selections by creating your own customized station(s) once you create an account. Registered or not, users are able to share a radio station via a form-generated email or by copying the station link code that is presented at the bottom of the Share This Station window of the player. Bios are accessible for every artist within the player when the Now Playing left tab item is selected (see image above). Upgrade to Slacker Radio Plus for $3.99 and avoid audio and banner ads, get unlimited song skips (normally, you're limited 6 skips), complete song lyrics, and use a mini widget player that you can place anywhere on your desktop without having to use your browser.
Slacker Mobile is a set of free apps for your Blackberry and iPhone giving you everything you find online with your PC. It was awarded as a CNET Editors' Choice in April 2009.
[Discover more Web-based Tools here]
