8tracks

8tracks is handcrafted internet radio -- the social, curated alternative to Pandora. Featuring 300,000+ mixes created by people who know and love music, the 8tracks Android app gives you easy, free and mobile access to the best collection of playlists on the web.  

8tracks believes playlists created by people trump those automated by algorithm. Think radio in the 1970s, mixtapes in the 1980s, and DJ culture in the years since. DJs get a platform for tastemaking, artists gain exposure, and listeners enjoy a unique blend of word-of-mouth sharing and radio -- long the trusted means for music discovery -- on a global scale.

Features

- Listen to playlists with 8 or more tracks in any style or genre, for any mood or environment
- Playlists segue from one to the next in a given category, delivering radio-like streaming
- Enjoy mixes from top curators like Pitchfork, Vice, Spin, Rolling Stone & Resident Advisor
- Browse genre tags like indie rock, electronic, dubstep, hip hop and jazz
- Browse freeform tags like sleep, study, chill, sex and party
- Search for playlists that include your favorite artists
- Listen to mixes everywhere:  on your commute, at the gym, on a beach
- Follow your favorite DJs to play their latest mixes from your mix feed
- Like mixes you want to check out again, or Favorite tracks you want to buy later
- Tested for Android 2.1 and up

Getting started

When you open the 8tracks Android app, sign up to personalize your listening experience. This allows you to Favorite tracks, Like mixes and Follow DJs (we only ask for a username, email and password). Or, just click “Take me to the music ->” and select one of our Featured mixes. If you’d like to browse other mixes, click the Globe icon. You can Refine Results by selecting a sort order (New, Hot, Popular) in combination with one or more tags (typically genre or mood). You can also search mixes by tag, artist or description (or return to the list of Featured mixes) from the Menu button on your phone.

Listening to a mix

When you click on a mix, you’ll arrive at the “mixpage”, which displays the mix title, cover art, and a count of “plays” and “likes” received to date. The current track is displayed along with player controls at the bottom of the screen, and the star icon allows you to Favorite it.  If you enjoy a playlist, click Like to bookmark it for later on the Liked tab, or Share it with friends via text, email, Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook. Or, click Next mix to jump to the following mix in the set.  The mix is described and tagged at the bottom of the page.

Being social

8tracks is fundamentally social.  Once logged in, click on a DJ’s name or avatar on any mixpage to check out the DJ’s profile.  This profile presents basic info (location, short bio, etc), stats (mixes, followers, following), and a list of all mixes published by that DJ.  You can Follow the DJ to add his or her mixes to your mix feed on the Home tab; mixes by all of the DJs you follow are included here in reverse chronological order.  

Press

“Algorithm-powered "personal radio" services like Pandora are all very well. But they don't feel nearly as personal as 8tracks, a music site where real people do the choosing of tunes.”
- Time Magazine, “50 Best Websites of 2011”

“When it comes to finding new music, 8tracks has long been one of the cooler methods.”
- MG Siegler, TechCrunch

“8tracks has slowly and steadily emerged as the industry’s reigning Internet mixtape startup”
- Colleen Taylor, GigaOM

“8tracks can take the human intelligence that is contained in all of those playlists and do something interesting”
- Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures

“A free, legal music service we love”
- Peter Kafka, Silicon Alley Insider

“8tracks takes a fun approach to creating custom mixes with the idea being that user-crafted music programming is more entertaining than algorithm-generated lists.”
- Jennifer Van Grove, Mashable