Post 100 Extravaganza - 100 Music Websites!
*POST 100*
Yes, here it is, the 100th post at A Future in Noise! When I started it in July of 2008, I can't say that I expected to be plugging along with a music blog for more than a few weeks, but then I realized that I could make an effort to bring more exposure to independent artists and cover the music that I found interesting, with the much-appreciated, excellent contributions from people I came in contact with through Last.fm. There is still much work to be done to keep reaching for this project's true potential; I plan on sticking with it, and I hope you will too.100 Music Websites!
To start things off, split into specific categories, I am recommending 100 music-based websites, harvested from much trawling of the web over the years and more than a little help from friends and StumbleUpon. It is likely that you will have heard of some of them before, and even more likely that you'll find some previously unseen gems in the batch through exploring the links in this list. Be sure to recommend your personal favourties in the comments! More nods to sites in the blogroll and independent artists will be being given throughout the week.
If you do have Last.fm, I'm going to include these links (yes, they are part of the 100 tally!) to apps that can spruce up your page: LastTweet (if you also have Twitter), Your Next Favourite Band (recommends you a band that's not in your library, based on what you've listened to), Automatic Last.fm Signature Images (based on top-listened albums), LastGraph (lets you graph listening history), Last.fm Data Scripts.
Blip.fm - Allows you to stream (or 'blip', rather) your own radio station of sorts, crawling available mp3 files on the web, and check out those of other users and give props if they play a song you like. You can embed your player anywhere that allows html, as seen below:
1001 Albums / Radio3Net - Stream the majority of albums mentioned in Robert Dimery's 1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die here! Be sure to check out Francisco Silva's blog with his reviews on the 1001 Albums as he listens to them.
MeeMix - Similar to Pandora, with stations based on artist or genre, but with the twist of being able to select the pulse and atmosphere of the station.
Musicovery - An inventive take on internet radio, with a lovely interface, genre, era, mood and tempo selections, this makes discovering music fun and easy.
Music Map - Type in an artist, see a map of what music people who listen to that artist also listen to; they closer the names cluster, the more likely it is. Addictive, and can lead to some curious finds.
thesixtyone - All music available here is submitted by the artists themselves, and voted on by listeners; the site has quite a lot of potential- like the others, you can also sort by mood and genre.
Stereo Zeitgeist - Commentary on current events in music, frequently witty and analytical, and encouraging activity from readers in a forum as well.
Idiomag - Digital magazine tailored to your music interests, and integrates with Last.fm nicely.
SoundWord - Excellent music blog post aggregator.
JP's Blog - This guy is good; he gets the scoop on all the stories I wish I could be the first to break!
How to Impress a Hipster - Insightful and entertaining look at what hipsters dig and how you can get in the know- musicians discussed in the past include Joy Division, Brian Eno, The Smiths, Roxy Music, and Oingo Boingo, with some non-musical subjects including Aubrey Beardsley, Roald Dahl, and Hayao Miyazaki.
Dorq - Not exclusive to, though frequently including music articles (including a few of my own contributions), and described as "Digital Opinions, Reviews and Questions"; they are on the lookout for additional contributors, so if you have something to share with the blogosphere, send it to Dorq!
A Tender Praise - The finest in music news and with some lovely feature articles; well-written, excellent design!
Song, by Toad - Oh, how I love this delightful music blog, and its accomanying podcast. There is much to be uncovered here.
Pop Music Club - Excellent "Artists Condensed" features (some past musicians: David Bowie, Kate Bush, Rufus Wainwright) and reviews.
Rave and Roll - The wonderful and obscure in 80's music recommendations.
Musebin - Music news and reviews...in one line each!
LP Cover Lover - Vintage vinyl covers daily.
Might as well mention the usual, newsy stops, too: NME, Rolling Stone, Blender, Filter, Spin, Pitchfork, and NPR Music, and these popular music/music-news blogs: Aquarium Drunkard, Brooklyn Vegan, Daytrotter, FluxBlog, Gorilla vs. Bear, I AM FUEL, YOU ARE FRIENDS, i guess i'm floating, Largehearted Boy, MusicByDay.com, My Old Kentucky Blog, Said the Gramophone, Stereogum, Wired Listening Post, and You Ain't No Picasso
Rate Your Music - Essential for rating and cataloging what you own; huge collection of user reviews for almost any album you could think of
Hot Music Releases - Only what's newly in, with super-helpful lists of what's to be released, critic's ratings, and user-submitted reviews
MusicBrainz - Open-source music database.
Pump Audio - Where advertisers and film makers look for music, and where you can submit your music for licensing while keeping your rights.
SongMeanings - Read debates on the meanings of song lyrics.
LyricWiki - One of few places you can actually find lyrics without being bombarded by pop-up ads!
The Covers Project - Track who has covered a specific song previously, or what songs an artist has covered.
Soundtrack INFO - What it says on the packet.
freesound - Huge Creative Commons-licensed database of sound effects.
WolframTones - Generate a unique MIDI composition with variations, while tweaking the genre, instruments, pitch, and time.
Noise Theorem Sound Library - Quite an assortment of drum and synth sound WAVs, which are cool to experiment with (especially with software like Reason!)
Virtual Drum Machines at Audio Playground - Vintage drum machines, playable on-line with working buttons and everything. I recommend the Seeburg Rhythm Prince.
P22 Music Text Composition Generator - Type in some text and this site converts it to a MIDI!
DFA Records Remixer - Simple, but quite a bit of fun...
The Automachine - Make a French electro song!
8tracks - Upload a playlist of 8 songs, quickly and painlessly; one of the easiest ways to share a few tracks with somebody.
WinFF - Convert mp3s, m4a, WAV, and wma files to each other.
mp3tag - Tag your audio files with ease!
Dandelion Radio - Carrying on the John Peel tradition!
Mod Radio UK - "Music for Mods Streamed By Mods"
Tom Robinson's Introducing (BBC Radio) - The best part of the BBC radio, with new music all the time
UK and Irish Radio Stations - Directory of radio stations in the United Kingdom and Ireland that also stream on-line.
Songtapper - Tap out the rhythm of a song with your spacebar, SongTapper will try to guess it!
The IBM Glass Engine - Inventive and thorough navigation through the music of Philip Glass.
Karaokeparty.com - Though a bit limited in song selection and geared more towards the mainstream than otherwise, this is definitely fun to do with friends and uses a RockBand-esque gauge for judging how correct your pitch is. And hey, they have "It's No Good" - Depeche Mode!
MusicThoughts - Inspirational quotes about music from the famous to the unknown.
Oblique Strategies - There are many websites for these cards for solving dilemmas, originally developed by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt, but this Twitter-generated one happens to be one of my favourites and the most simplified.
tapedeck.org - Audio tape design nostalgia.
- MUSIC RECOMMENDATIONS AND LISTENING
If you do have Last.fm, I'm going to include these links (yes, they are part of the 100 tally!) to apps that can spruce up your page: LastTweet (if you also have Twitter), Your Next Favourite Band (recommends you a band that's not in your library, based on what you've listened to), Automatic Last.fm Signature Images (based on top-listened albums), LastGraph (lets you graph listening history), Last.fm Data Scripts.
Blip.fm - Allows you to stream (or 'blip', rather) your own radio station of sorts, crawling available mp3 files on the web, and check out those of other users and give props if they play a song you like. You can embed your player anywhere that allows html, as seen below:
1001 Albums / Radio3Net - Stream the majority of albums mentioned in Robert Dimery's 1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die here! Be sure to check out Francisco Silva's blog with his reviews on the 1001 Albums as he listens to them.
MeeMix - Similar to Pandora, with stations based on artist or genre, but with the twist of being able to select the pulse and atmosphere of the station.
Musicovery - An inventive take on internet radio, with a lovely interface, genre, era, mood and tempo selections, this makes discovering music fun and easy.
Music Map - Type in an artist, see a map of what music people who listen to that artist also listen to; they closer the names cluster, the more likely it is. Addictive, and can lead to some curious finds.
thesixtyone - All music available here is submitted by the artists themselves, and voted on by listeners; the site has quite a lot of potential- like the others, you can also sort by mood and genre.
- SOME USUAL (MP3/STREAM) SUSPECTS
- MUSIC BLOGS+NEWS+AND MORE
Stereo Zeitgeist - Commentary on current events in music, frequently witty and analytical, and encouraging activity from readers in a forum as well.
Idiomag - Digital magazine tailored to your music interests, and integrates with Last.fm nicely.
SoundWord - Excellent music blog post aggregator.
JP's Blog - This guy is good; he gets the scoop on all the stories I wish I could be the first to break!
How to Impress a Hipster - Insightful and entertaining look at what hipsters dig and how you can get in the know- musicians discussed in the past include Joy Division, Brian Eno, The Smiths, Roxy Music, and Oingo Boingo, with some non-musical subjects including Aubrey Beardsley, Roald Dahl, and Hayao Miyazaki.
Dorq - Not exclusive to, though frequently including music articles (including a few of my own contributions), and described as "Digital Opinions, Reviews and Questions"; they are on the lookout for additional contributors, so if you have something to share with the blogosphere, send it to Dorq!
A Tender Praise - The finest in music news and with some lovely feature articles; well-written, excellent design!
Song, by Toad - Oh, how I love this delightful music blog, and its accomanying podcast. There is much to be uncovered here.
Pop Music Club - Excellent "Artists Condensed" features (some past musicians: David Bowie, Kate Bush, Rufus Wainwright) and reviews.
Rave and Roll - The wonderful and obscure in 80's music recommendations.
Musebin - Music news and reviews...in one line each!
LP Cover Lover - Vintage vinyl covers daily.
Might as well mention the usual, newsy stops, too: NME, Rolling Stone, Blender, Filter, Spin, Pitchfork, and NPR Music, and these popular music/music-news blogs: Aquarium Drunkard, Brooklyn Vegan, Daytrotter, FluxBlog, Gorilla vs. Bear, I AM FUEL, YOU ARE FRIENDS, i guess i'm floating, Largehearted Boy, MusicByDay.com, My Old Kentucky Blog, Said the Gramophone, Stereogum, Wired Listening Post, and You Ain't No Picasso
- MUSIC REVIEWS+DATABASES
Rate Your Music - Essential for rating and cataloging what you own; huge collection of user reviews for almost any album you could think of
Hot Music Releases - Only what's newly in, with super-helpful lists of what's to be released, critic's ratings, and user-submitted reviews
MusicBrainz - Open-source music database.
Pump Audio - Where advertisers and film makers look for music, and where you can submit your music for licensing while keeping your rights.
SongMeanings - Read debates on the meanings of song lyrics.
LyricWiki - One of few places you can actually find lyrics without being bombarded by pop-up ads!
The Covers Project - Track who has covered a specific song previously, or what songs an artist has covered.
Soundtrack INFO - What it says on the packet.
- MAKING MUSIC
freesound - Huge Creative Commons-licensed database of sound effects.
WolframTones - Generate a unique MIDI composition with variations, while tweaking the genre, instruments, pitch, and time.
Noise Theorem Sound Library - Quite an assortment of drum and synth sound WAVs, which are cool to experiment with (especially with software like Reason!)
Virtual Drum Machines at Audio Playground - Vintage drum machines, playable on-line with working buttons and everything. I recommend the Seeburg Rhythm Prince.
P22 Music Text Composition Generator - Type in some text and this site converts it to a MIDI!
DFA Records Remixer - Simple, but quite a bit of fun...
The Automachine - Make a French electro song!
- A FEW COMPREHENSIVE BAND, GENRES, and LABEL SITES...
- MUSIC TOOLS
8tracks - Upload a playlist of 8 songs, quickly and painlessly; one of the easiest ways to share a few tracks with somebody.
WinFF - Convert mp3s, m4a, WAV, and wma files to each other.
mp3tag - Tag your audio files with ease!
- WHAT?! BUY MUSIC, YOU SAY? A NOVEL IDEA!
- PODCASTS AND STATIONS
Dandelion Radio - Carrying on the John Peel tradition!
Mod Radio UK - "Music for Mods Streamed By Mods"
Tom Robinson's Introducing (BBC Radio) - The best part of the BBC radio, with new music all the time
UK and Irish Radio Stations - Directory of radio stations in the United Kingdom and Ireland that also stream on-line.
- CURIOUS+FUN
Songtapper - Tap out the rhythm of a song with your spacebar, SongTapper will try to guess it!
The IBM Glass Engine - Inventive and thorough navigation through the music of Philip Glass.
Karaokeparty.com - Though a bit limited in song selection and geared more towards the mainstream than otherwise, this is definitely fun to do with friends and uses a RockBand-esque gauge for judging how correct your pitch is. And hey, they have "It's No Good" - Depeche Mode!
MusicThoughts - Inspirational quotes about music from the famous to the unknown.
Oblique Strategies - There are many websites for these cards for solving dilemmas, originally developed by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt, but this Twitter-generated one happens to be one of my favourites and the most simplified.
tapedeck.org - Audio tape design nostalgia.
5 COMMENTS / POST COMMENT:
Thanks for the link, I love these other ones!
great post. i will definitely check out those podcasts.
I credit lastfm so much with some of my music discoveries. I love it!
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Betty
http://laptopprocessor.info
This is valuable information about to the music. Music is a great source of entertainment and it is effort able by everyone.
Now i will definitely check out those podcast.
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