8Tracks: A Great Way to Create and Discover Creative Playlists

There are a number of sites out there dedicated to listening to music, like Pandora and last.fm. Most of these sites are either traditional radio that is played online, or they create “stations” based upon a particular artist or song. While I use Pandora on a fairly regular basis, sometimes I like to use a site that is geared towards playlists rather than stations. When that’s the case, I turn to 8tracks. This site is comprised of thousands upon thousands of user-created playlists.

When using 8tracks, you can listen to any playlist, create your own or be a part of the social aspects of the site. Read on for more information about how this site works and why it’s definitely worth checking out.

Listening to Music

The most important part of 8tracks is, of course, listening to music. First, we have to find a playlist to listen to. The home page is the first page that shows up, and this is kind of like a “news feed” for the site. From this page you can see all of the playlists that were uploaded by the users that you follow, so this is one way to find a playlist.

If you’re in the mood to listen to a familiar favorite, check out the “liked” page. You are able to like or favorite a playlist at any time while listening to it. This section compiles all of those playlists in chronological order, with the most recently liked at the top of the list.

The final viewing option is to view all mixes. You can choose to view every single playlist, or to filter playlists using “hot” or “popular”  search features. Another exciting feature about these pages is the ability to turn any of them into an RSS feed. I don’t personally utilize this feature as I don’t follow a large number of users, but if you want to be up to date on the playlists coming from users you follow, then this feature is for you.

If you aren’t finding something that’s to your liking from these pages, try the search feature. You can search by playlist name, artist or with 8tracks fantastic tagging system. Everything from genres to emotions exist as tags, allowing you to find a mix that’s great for a college party or a playlist to fall asleep to. Once you’ve entered your first tag or artist into the search system, you can also select additional tags to narrow down the playlist.

Once a playlist has been selected, you are taken to the listening screen. You can see information including the current track and all tracks that have already played, the description, the basic profile of the DJ and any comments. On this screen you are also able to “like” the playlist to save it for later, and you can “favorite” any tracks you want to remember to download later.

The ability to favorite a song is one of my favorite features of this site. While there are ways to bookmark songs on sites like Pandora, this site provides a great way to favorite and then easily look back on songs which is a bit rare. You can also purchase songs on iTunes or utilize the sites new partnership with SoundHound. I love the ability to bookmark specific songs that I really like, whether it is to download them or use in a new playlist.

Creating Playlists

The other important part of this site is, of course, creating playlists for users to listen to. Like the rest of the site, creating a playlist is a very straight-forward process. You are able to upload songs from your computer, choose from any songs you had previously uploaded or type in the song to see if it’s on soundcloud. After uploading songs, all you have to do is add a description, at least 2 tags and an image to use as the cover art. You can save the playlist and come back to it, or just go ahead and publish. It’s a simple process with no twists and turns.

Social Interactions, Account Settings and Premium Info

There are definitely some social aspects of the site, primarily focused on following users to be updated on any playlists that they put up. You are able to connect Twitter, Facebook and Google accounts to the site to see any friends that also have accounts on the site. I connected my Twitter account and am able to follow all of those friends now. You can check out your profile to see all of your friends and mixes, and then select their accounts for any of their playlists.

The accounts section allows you to do many different things. You are able to view your favorite tracks, find new friends, create mixes and change the account settings. The account settings section has the basics, such as changing your password or public profile information. Under the advanced section, you are able to change a number of minute preferences, including details like whether playlists open in new windows or not and which emails you receive from 8tracks.

Finally, under account settings you can also choose to upgrade to 8tracks+. This premium service gives listeners the ability to listen without hearing ads. DJs get a symbol on their profile, are able to let their playlists play one after another and will be privy to more features coming this year. The features aren’t especially mind-blowing, but it’s a pretty cheap investment and a great way to support the site.

Final Thoughts

I absolutely adore 8tracks. It’s almost always playing, whether through my computer, iPhone or through my Apple TV. There is literally a playlist to suit my every mood, and it’s easy to find tons of playlists that fit what I’m looking for. I really appreciate the ability to browse and listen to music in the form of a well-curated playlist that I don’t have to sit down and make. I’ve discovered a number of new songs and artists that I absolutely love. I think that their emphasis on tags has been a wonderful decision and makes the site especially easy to navigate. 8tracks is well designed, with a number of great features and is by and large my favorite online music player.

What are your thoughts? Have you tried 8tracks? How does it compare to the other music sites that you enjoy?