Useful internet software, websites and blogsites.: DJ The Easy Way With These Top 3 Sites For Music Playlists

Saturday, February 28, 2009

DJ The Easy Way With These Top 3 Sites For Music Playlists

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DJ The Easy Way With These Top 3 Sites For Music Playlists

via MakeUseOf.com by Tim Watson on 2/28/09

In my younger days, one of my favorite ways to pass the time was creating mixtapes. I'd spend hours flipping back and forth between tape-decks A and B, painstakingly coming up with the perfect soundtracks for gaming or just hanging out. I recall coming up with some wacky (or just plain wack) combinations.

When I happened upon each of these three sites, those old feelings came back, although the compilation of the mixes do not take nearly as long this time around.

MixTurtle

Mix Turtle is among the first of these sites that I came across, and I feel that it's still one of the better ones. Once you've signed up you can fill playlists with tracks found by Mix Turtle's search engine, which appears to hook into YouTube and Google Video as well as index audio files from around the Web.

Results tend to contain duplicates, and some turn out to be broken links, but it's quick and easy to find a good copy of a song.

Clicking the "live" light lists recently-played tunes which are one click away from your own playlists, which are in turn listed at your username.mixturtle.com page.

You may take a listen to my Mix Turtle playlist here.

8tracks

The makers of 8tracks seem to subscribe to the Apple school of Web design. The Flash-based interface is clear and simple. You're just about guaranteed to find a good file for the song of your choice, but if not, 8tracks accepts uploads.

Playlists require a minimum of 8 tracks, or about a half-hour. It's easy to browse and play other users' mixes, and follow your favorite mixes and DJs.

Spin my 8tracks playlist here.

Maestro

I have been looking for a service like this for some time now. Some of the sites I've used have come close, but Maestro.fm surpasses them all.

First, a downloaded client uploads your iTunes library. As long as that client is running, you may access your library from any browser. In an effort to save bandwidth, your songs are NOT uploaded to Maestro's server until the first time you play a song. Mac and Linux users, I'm afraid you'll have to take the manual upload option for now. Playlist creation and library browsing with the highly-responsive interface is swift; you may add tracks individually, or save search results as a new playlist.

Finally, my extended "Ridiculous Beats" mix on Maestro, which has already been played by site users 75 times, is right here. You'll end up either banging your head, bopping it, or scratching it.

How do you roll your playlists? Tell us what we've missed in the comments. Be honest, but gentile, and above all, enjoy the music!

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