42244

econsultancy_xml

Catalogue The breadth of Grooveshark's library of music is pretty impressive. It has over 6m songs in its catalogue, ranging from small independent labels to content from the majors. How many of these are available on demand is unclear, but most of my searches for artists or songs came up with some decent results. The content for some artists is limited; a search will not necessarily bring up all the songs from an artist's back catalogue but will return at least a few. Searching for music l The site search on <a href="http://listen.grooveshark.com/song/Headmaster_Ritual/9949312">Grooveshark Lite </a>worked well for all of the searches I tried. A search tool is displayed on the homepage and you can search by artist or song title: <img alt="Grooveshark music search" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3033/2780310191_d3aeab902d_o.jpg" /> Music player The music player at the bottom of the screen allows you to pause or repeat songs that are playing, as well as to skip back and forth between songs. This is something you cannot do on Last.fm, though <a href="http://www.deezer.com/">Deezer </a>also lets you do this, as well as forwarding and rewinding songs, which can be useful. A box with the artist and song title also appears, though you can switch it off if you prefer: <img alt="Grooveshark music player" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2133/2781166162_203912cdf2_m.jpg" /> Options within this box allow you to add songs to your playlist or favourites list, as well as sharing them with friends. You can also opt to download songs, which will take you to the main site, where songs are charged at 99 cents each. One thing missing here is a link to the artist pages, giving some biographical background, discographies, and so on. Recommendations Related songs are displayed underneath the music player when you are listening to a song: <img alt="Grooveshark recommendations" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3187/2780309891_4e6beea923_m.jpg" /> These recommendations are good, but to get ideas for other songs or artists which are more tailored, you need to register with the site so it can learn a little about your tastes over time. Conclusion The main Grooveshark site is a community which allows users to upload songs and share them with other users. The site compensates artists and copyright holders, while a share of the transactions go to the users themselves, as well as the site. Grooveshark Lite is an adjunct to the main site, and represents an excellent way to find music on demand and to be able to listen to whole tracks without the kinds of restrictions that are placed on users by other music sites like Last.fm and Pandora. We <a href="/blog/2632-site-review-deezer-free-on-demand-music">recently reviewed Deezer</a>, which also offers songs on demand, though, unlike Grooveshark, it pays artists and labels through the ad revenues on the site. Both offer a searchable catalogue of music which can be listened to on demand, though, at least for the artists I searched for, Deezer seems to offer a bigger selection of songs. Related articles: <a href="/blog/2633-q-a-paul-ricard-of-on-demand-music-site-deezer">Q&A: Paul Ricard of on-demand music site Deezer</a> <a href="/blog/2159-q-a-jon-webster-of-the-music-manager-s-forum">Q&A: Jon Webster of the Music Manager's Forum</a> <a href="/blog/2084-pandora-killed-by-self-harming-music-industry">Pandora killed by self-harming music industry</a>

<FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Catalogue</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>The breadth of Grooveshark's library of music is pretty impressive. It has over 6m songs in its catalogue, ranging from small independent labels to content from the majors.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>How many of these are available on demand is unclear, but most of my searches for artists or songs came up with some decent results.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>The content for some artists is limited; a search will not necessarily bring up all the songs from an artist's back catalogue but will return at least a few.</Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Searching for music</Emphasis> l</Paragraph> <Paragraph>The site search on <Link URL="http://listen.grooveshark.com/song/Headmaster_Ritual/9949312" Window="Self">Grooveshark Lite </Link>worked well for all of the searches I tried. A search tool is displayed on the homepage and you can search by artist or song title:</Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis> <Image AlternateText="Grooveshark music search" Source="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3033/2780310191_d3aeab902d_o.jpg"> </Image> </Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Music player</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>The music player at the bottom of the screen allows you to pause or repeat songs that are playing, as well as to skip back and forth between songs.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>This is something you cannot do on Last.fm, though <Link URL="http://www.deezer.com/" Window="Self">Deezer </Link>also lets you do this, as well as forwarding and rewinding songs, which can be useful.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>A box with the artist and song title also appears, though you can switch it off if you prefer: </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Image AlternateText="Grooveshark music player" Source="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2133/2781166162_203912cdf2_m.jpg"> </Image> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Options within this box allow you to add songs to your playlist or favourites list, as well as sharing them with friends. You can also opt to download songs, which will take you to the main site, where songs are charged at 99 cents each.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>One thing missing here is a link to the artist pages, giving some biographical background, discographies, and so on.</Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Recommendations</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Related songs are displayed underneath the music player when you are listening to a song: </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Image AlternateText="Grooveshark recommendations" Source="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3187/2780309891_4e6beea923_m.jpg"> </Image> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>These recommendations are good, but to get ideas for other songs or artists which are more tailored, you need to register with the site so it can learn a little about your tastes over time. </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Conclusion</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>The main Grooveshark site is a community which allows users to upload songs and share them with other users. The site compensates artists and copyright holders, while a share of the transactions go to the users themselves, as well as the site.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>Grooveshark Lite is an adjunct to the main site, and represents an excellent way to find music on demand and to be able to listen to whole tracks without the kinds of restrictions that are placed on users by other music sites like Last.fm and Pandora.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>We <Link URL="/blog/2632-site-review-deezer-free-on-demand-music" Window="Self">recently reviewed Deezer</Link>, which also offers songs on demand, though, unlike Grooveshark, it pays artists and labels through the ad revenues on the site.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>Both offer a searchable catalogue of music which can be listened to on demand, though, at least for the artists I searched for, Deezer seems to offer a bigger selection of songs.</Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Related articles:</Emphasis> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="/blog/2633-q-a-paul-ricard-of-on-demand-music-site-deezer" Window="Self">Q&A: Paul Ricard of on-demand music site Deezer</Link> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="/blog/2159-q-a-jon-webster-of-the-music-manager-s-forum" Window="Self">Q&A: Jon Webster of the Music Manager's Forum</Link> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="/blog/2084-pandora-killed-by-self-harming-music-industry" Window="Self">Pandora killed by self-harming music industry</Link> </Paragraph> </FormattedContent>

2008-08-19T14:10:00+01:00

econsultancy_xml

Online music community Grooveshark has recently introduced Grooveshark Lite, which lets users search for and listen to music on demand. <img alt="Grooveshark" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/2778150762_ae5948f2af_o.jpg" /> There are a number of useful music sites out there, so let's see how Grooveshark compares with Last.fm, Deezer, Imeem and other rivals....

<FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Online music community Grooveshark has recently introduced Grooveshark Lite, which lets users search for and listen to music on demand. </Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Image AlternateText="Grooveshark" Source="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/2778150762_ae5948f2af_o.jpg"> </Image> </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Quote>There are a number of useful music sites out there, so let's see how Grooveshark compares with Last.fm, Deezer, Imeem and other rivals.... </Quote> </Paragraph> </FormattedContent>

false 2707

Econsultancy has a wide range of documents to help you with designing websites from start to finish. Check out our <a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/effective-web-design-best-practice-guide">Effective Web Design Guide</a> and our <a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/template-files-for-web-projects">Web Project Management Template Files</a> for more information.

366187

Site review: Grooveshark Lite false

2008-08-21T08:50:00+01:00

site-review-grooveshark-lite

2009-04-30T00:26:30+01:00

2009-10-13T09:45:39+01:00

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