I’m always on the lookout for new music and bands that I hadn’t heard of before. There are many places to find new tunes on the net, but what I value most is a playlist of music from a like minded individual. Recently my girlfriend told me about a site she found called 8tracks (not to be confused with eight-track) and it’s brought me to a whole new realm of music discovery.
8tracks is an online music platform that allows users to create their own internet radio mixes and share them with the world. This isn’t exactly a unique concept, with many other sites doing something similar – such as Grooveshark – but what I like about 8tracks is the simple interface, and the surprising amount of high quality mixes. Sure, it really depends on what your taste in music is, but given that there are thousands upon thousands of mixes – and many categories to help filter them – there’s an excellent chance that you’ll not only find a mix that you enjoy, but a slew of new music you hadn’t heard before either. The focus of the site is on sharing mixes publicly, instead of simply creating private playlists for friends or your next party like Grooveshark is geared towards.
Aside from the mountain of great mixes, my favorite part of the site is the ranking system. Users can vote mixes up or down in any given musical category, and there’s also an overall top mixes section as well making it easy to see what kind of music is trending. You’ll also be pleased to know that the top mixes are surprisingly Top 40 free; it’s very exciting!
8tracks is completely free, and you can visit and start creating your own mixes right away. If you’re feeling adventurous, create a mix and share it in our comments below!
