Today, I discovered a music website called Grooveshark. It’s sort of a juiced-up, mostly-legal P2P service for the Web 2.0 age. The idea is that you can upload music from your own collection to the Grooveshark servers, where you (or anyone else) can then listen to them from any computer or web-enabled device. As more and more users pool their music, the combined catalog grows grows.
There are now millions of songs available on Grooveshark, and by “available” I mean that you can simply go to www.grooveshark.com, type in a song, artist, or album, and listen to the track in full-quality all the way through. The site doesn’t support downloading (with good reason) but does support user-created, sharable playlists, and even has a sort of recommendation system to lead you to new music. It’s like a mashup of Last.fm and Pandora.
Is it legal? So far, it seems like it. The site’s documentation is a little on the blank side (including the expanded features list as well as the FAQ section) but based on the info I’ve been able to glean, it looks like the Grooveshark crew is putting a lot of effort into making their service as clean and legit as possible.
I gotta say, I’m surprised this site flew under my radar; I hadn’t heard of it until earlier today and I’ve already become very interested. Previously, if I friend told me to listen to a particular band or song, I would either go to YouTube or listen to previews on iTunes. Not particularly elegant solutions compared to Grooveshark.
Check out the site and see what you think. Is this going to change the way you listen to or share music?
Tags: Digital Distribution, Grooveshark, Social networking, Web 2.0
If they came out with an iPhone/iPod Touch app that supported access to their servers and allowed search functions for the content, then most likely I’d download the app and listien in. At least, while I’m out and about.
For at home listening, I’m not too keen on using loads of bandwidth just for listening to music, unless I put up an online radio station. But to be sure, I run my own station, so I would have to say, yes, I’d be interested in taking a look at this.
This sounds almost too good to be true, especially in these days when last.fm is beginning to charge for their streaming services.
@Dyne
http://patdryburgh.net/blog/grooveshark-iphone-app-screenshots/
A small taste of what’s coming for all you lucky iPhoners..