The Phonemes is all about headphones but the only reason we use headphones is so we can listen to our favorite music, right?
With that in mind I figured I will do some research and share with you the top music streaming sites so you will know where you can go to and listen to great music with your new (or old) headphones :).
The sites are listed in no specific order.
Grooveshark
Grooveshark, a subsidiary of Escape Media Group, is an online music streaming service based in the United States. It has a search engine, streaming service, and recommendation application. Users can stream and upload music that can be played immediately or added to a playlist.
[button-blue url=”http://grooveshark.com/” target=”_blank” position=”left”] Check it out [/button-blue]
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Spotify
Spotify is a commercial music streaming service providing digital rights management-restricted content from record labels including Sony, EMI, Warner Music Group and Universal. Launched in October 2008 by Swedish startup Spotify AB, the service had approximately 10 million users as of 15 September 2010, about 2.5 million of whom were paying users.
Total users reached 20 million by December 2012, 5 million of whom pay a monthly subscription fee that varies based on locale.
[button-blue url=”https://www.spotify.com/” target=”_blank” position=”left”] Check it out [/button-blue]
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Soundcloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform based in Berlin, Germany that enables its users to upload, record, promote and share their originally-created sounds. In May 2010, it announced that it had reached a million users.
[button-blue url=”https://soundcloud.com/” target=”_blank” position=”left”] Check it out [/button-blue]
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Songza
Songza is a free music streaming and recommendation service for Internet users in North America. Stating that its playlists are made by music experts, the service recommends various playlists based on time of day and mood or activity.Songza offers playlists for activities such as waking up, working out, commuting, concentrating, unwinding, entertaining, and sleeping. Users can vote songs up or down, and the service will adapt to the user’s personal music preferences.
Users can find playlists not just based on artists, songs, or genres, but also based on themes, interests, and eras, such as “songs in Apple Commercials”, “90s One-Hit Wonders”, and “Music of Fashion Week”. Songza is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of New York City.
[button-blue url=”http://songza.com/” target=”_blank” position=”left”] Check it out [/button-blue]
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Pandora Radio
Pandora Internet Radio (also known as Pandora Radio or simply Pandora) is a music streaming and automated music recommendation service that serves as “custodian” of the Music Genome Project. The service, operated by Pandora Media, Inc., is only available in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
The service plays musical selections of a certain genre based on the user’s artist selection. The user then provides positive or negative feedback for songs chosen by the service, which are taken into account when Pandora selects future songs.
[button-blue url=”http://www.pandora.com/” target=”_blank” position=”left”] Check it out [/button-blue]
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Ex.fm
Ex.fm is a social music discovery platform powered by thousands of music sites across the web. An endless feed of great music lives at the Exfm Website as well as on slick mobile apps for iPhone and Android. Exfm also boasts powerful browser extensions to play any website containing music and a powerful widget for publishers. Exfm was founded in March 2010 in New York City.
[button-blue url=”http://ex.fm/” target=”_blank” position=”left”] Check it out [/button-blue]
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8tracks
8tracks.com is an internet radio and social networking website revolving around the concept of streaming user-curated playlists consisting of at least 8 tracks. Users create free accounts and can either browse the site and listen to other user-created mixes, and/or they can create their own mixes. The site also has asubscription-based service, 8 tracks plus, although its features are still evolving.
Currently, a $25 payment purchases a 6-month subscription, during which time advertisements are removed from the website interface while subscribers are logged in. Specific DJ-focused features are in the works, but will likely include profile customization, mix analytics, and unlimited uploads.
[button-blue url=”http://8tracks.com/” target=”_blank” position=”left”] Check it out [/button-blue]
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Last.fm
Last.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for US$280 million.
Using a music recommender system called “Audioscrobbler”, Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user’s musical taste by recording details of the tracks the user listens to, either from Internet radio stations, or the user’s computer or many portable music devices. This information is transferred (“scrobbled”) to Last.fm’s database either via the music player itself (Rdio, Spotify, Clementine, Amarok) or via a plugin installed into the user’s music player. The data are then displayed on the user’s profile page and also compiled to create reference pages for individual artists.
By April 2011 Last.fm reported more than 50 billion scrobbles.
[button-blue url=”http://www.last.fm/” target=”_blank” position=”left”] Check it out [/button-blue]
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Rhapsody
Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody relaunched as a standalone company, separate from former parent RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody’s version of digital rights management enforced on AAC+ or WMA files. The service also sells individual MP3s without digital rights management restrictions.
[button-blue url=”http://www.rhapsody.com/” target=”_blank” position=”left”] Check it out [/button-blue]
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Rdio
Rdio is an ad-free music subscription service. It is available as a website and also has clients for the iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad, Android, BlackBerry, andWindows Phone mobile devices, which can play streaming music or cache songs for offline playback. There are also clients for the Roku and Sonos systems. The web-based service also offers a native desktop client application for Mac OS X and Windows.
Its library has content from the four major record labels, as well as the Merlin Network and the aggregators IODA, INgrooves, The Orchard, CD Baby, IRIS Distribution, BFM Digital, Finetunes, and Catapult. Rdio also offers social networking, allowing users to share playlists and follow others to see what music they listen to.
[button-blue url=”http://www.rdio.com/” target=”_blank” position=”left”] Check it out [/button-blue]
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Rokkify
Rokkify is the original free streaming music website that uses YouTube as a source. We offer free streaming music without any skip limits or annoying ads that interrupt your listening experience. We also benefit music artists by generating revenue on their existing videos.
[button-blue url=”http://rokkify.com/” target=”_blank” position=”left”] Check it out [/button-blue]
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