The official 8tracks blog

You can now “like” mixes on 8tracks. Plus integrations both new (StumbleUpon) & improved (Twitter, Last.fm). Check it! http://bit.ly/7PrHtg

Hi all - we’ve got a bug that prevents you from listening to a mix you’ve heard in the past. Will get on this asap.

Liking a mix. Plus awesome new integrations.

Following the release of our public API yesterday, we launched some great new features this evening.

Mix liking

We’ve long allowed listeners to express preference for a DJ (via following) or a track (via favoriting).  But now you can like a mix.  Just click the heart icon on any mixpage, then go back to your liked mixes on your profile page (check out the pretty new tabs while you’re there : ) )

Soon, we’ll provide (1) listeners with direct access to liked mixes from their dashboard, and (2) DJs with liking stats so they can see what sort of love they’re getting from their listeners.

Awesome integrations

We also have 3 new (or improved) integrations:

1. StumbleUpon (new)
2. Twitter (improved)
3. Last.fm (improved)

StumbleUpon

We get a boatload of new listeners from SU.  Now you can share mixes you like via SU directly, from a mixpage.  Click Share > StumbleUpon and then click the big green “Thumbs-up” button to recommend it to people on SU.  Note you do NOT have to add a tag (or a review), but we’d suggest putting in “music” or a genre.  (We’re trying to figure out a way to automatically populate the field for you.)

Twitter

Many have expressed interest in our providing a better way for DJs and listeners to communicate with one another.  While we could build a private messaging system, we prefer to keep things simple.  So, instead, we now surface Twitter handles (e.g. @[username]) on the profile page, allowing people to contact each other on the existing, public Twitter network.  Helpfully, the followers of those doing the conversing can learn about 8tracks.  If people want to take a conversation private, they can simply follow each other on Twitter to send direct messages.

Last.fm

I’ve long been a fan of Last.fm (wrote about ‘em years ago on my old blog), and we’ve had scrobbing in place since earlier this year.  But if you’re really digging a particular DJ’s mixes, we thought it’d be useful to allow you to check out what else he’s listening to in general.  Now, if a person has input her Last.fm credentials on our Settings page, we link her 8tracks profile to her Last.fm profile, which presents “Recently Listened” tracks (including those on 8tracks) and her top artists and tracks over time.

Enjoy and, as always, let us know what you think.

The push is complete, can you guess what’s new? :) Also if you find some bugs, please let us know!

After weeks of hard work we’re about to add significant functionality. In the next couple of hours, the service may be spotty…

Approaching 50k mixes

Perhaps the nicest feedback we’ve received on 8tracks to date: http://bit.ly/4AQU72

Here’s more info on the new 8tracks API, presented at #musichackday in Boston on Saturday: http://bit.ly/8QgOv4