make your own mix

make your own mix

While automated music recommendation engines that power Web services such as Pandora (http://www.pandora.com) and the Genius feature in the iTunes Store are all the rage, there’s something to be said for playlists picked out the old fashioned way – by humans. That’s the thinking behind the music sharing Web service 8tracks (http://www.8tracks.com).

8tracks allows users to create personalized playlists of their favorite tunes. Each playlist must be at least 30 minutes long – about eight songs, hence the service’s name. You can upload DRM-free tunes from your own collection or search for songs on 8tracks’ database. You can then name your mix, even upload a picture that represents it, and send a link to share your list with your friends on Facebook or Twitter or get the code to embed a music player on any other Web page.