djing

Share of the Week– Turntable.fm

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Do you listen to music online?

How do you share music with friends?

Here’s what I’m guessing:

–>you send them a Youtube, Soundcloud, or Grooveshark link via Facebook, Twitter, Email, or Instant Messenger

–>if you are lucky, you are chatting with them real-time, in which case 2-3 minutes later you get a ping back, saying “OMG!!” or “ehh…not feeling it.”

–>if you are not so lucky, you sent them a link, and you wait 2-3 days hoping at some point they’ll comment back, and when they do the moment has kind of passed.

Wouldn’t you love a way to share music REAL-TIME with your friends instead of waiting for them to judge it and get back to you?! Somewhere where you could play that new a song you love for your friends, co-workers, and fellow music aficionados. A place where you could get/give instant feedback and decide “AWESOME!” or “LAME!” on the spot, just like at a live show. A place where you can trade off being the DJ…

Welcome! This is Turntable.fm!! The concept: Social DJing. Instead of just compiling a tracklist to listen to while you work on your computer, you can take that music and share it with anyone, anywhere instantly.

Turntable creates virtual social spaces, much like a club, with 5 DJ pods at the front. Anyone can grab an available seat and start “spinning” their tracks. After your song has ended the person beside you is up.

You build up your song queue by accessing songs from a database (MediaNet), and if you are not satisfied with the available selection, you can easily upload your own music–with plays only accessible by you.

Turntable DJing Room
This is what a room looks like. Notice the 5 pods at the front, with 3 currently in use. On the right side is your DJ Queue, with the Chat box below for plenty of interaction

Best part is, your listeners really do tell you “AWESOME!” or “LAME!” while your song is playing.

For everyone AWESOME you get a point on your profile (instant validation), and for every LAME the needle drops and your peer approval goes with it. Drop below 33%, and your turn is over. This is an incredibly powerful element, because it takes some power from the DJ and gives it to the audience, an accurate reflection of real-life feedback.

If you like someone’s music consistently, or you want to connect with friends, you are likely to FAN them. In this case, every time they start DJing in a room you receive an email notification, so you can join effortlessly join them and share music.

Like a song you hear? Add it to your Queue, or share via amazon, itunes, last.fm, spotify, or rdio.

How to share music on Turntable
Notice amazon and rdio are not pictured above. They are were added yesterday and last week, respectively

So here is my Share of the Week, Turntable.fm. There isn’t much explaining to do here. It is a relatively young New York based startup, currently pursuing more funding, has immense potential. Remember Facebook at the beginning, when you realized how cool it was to play around on there. If you like music one bit, then seriously, from the first song you play you are addicted. Tell me I’m wrong, but this service is exactly what social media and music sharing should have done a long time ago.

ONE CAVEAT! One of your Facebook friends has to be on Turntable already. If you accessed this blog via Facebook, and we are friends, you’re good to go. If not, get in touch so you can get your account.

Last thing: when you join Turntable.fm, let’s connect. You will find me listed under my Twitter name IdeaNerd. If you like electronic music, come find me in the Electronic Happiness room.

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