Author: BackBeat

Chromecast on Web

| BackBeat

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Today we’re excited to bring a little bit of holiday magic into your lives. Specifically the type of magic that allows you to beam 8tracks playlists from your laptop to your TV. You might call it witchcraft, but actually it’s 8tracks Chromecast compatibility – now on web. 

That’s right, everyone – as of today if you have a Chromecast setup you can play 8tracks playlists on your TV while controlling them from your browser. So if you’re in the kitchen making a crazy awesome holiday meal, but still want to be in charge of the music (which you should be, you’re cooking for everyone in this hypothetical situation), then you can still have complete control. It’s your domain. 

To try it out, download the Chromecast extension if you haven’t already, then launch the Chromecast player on your TV from any 8tracks playlist page.

The Best of 2014 Collection

| BackBeat

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It’s December, everyone, which means the time has come to reflect on an amazing year in music. We thought about just sharing some of the tracks we loved from 2014, but we think we have something way better: a whole collection of playlists assembled by the record labels, artists, and blogs responsible for sharing and creating some of this year’s best music.

Collecting picks from our friends at Warp, UltraMusic, Domino, Polyvinyl, Drowned in Sound, and many more, our Best of 2014 is (we think) the definitive collection and the last word on the year’s most exciting music, chosen by the folks who make it happen.

 

DJ Tools: Bringing DJs and Listeners Together

| BackBeat

Here at 8tracks, we like to think of ourselves as matchmakers. We help people who love music share music–with people who love to listen to music. That’s why today we’re excited to offer three new tools (none of which is a fiddle, though we do serenade new hires this way).

 

8tracks DJ Stats

Analytics for DJs to get listeners’ feedback

For the first time, DJs can access an analytics dashboard that gives them stats about their playlists. It highlights the number of times a playlist’s songs have been listened to, liked, or skipped, and provides DJs with feedback from their listeners to help them make even better playlists.

Real-time feedback from listeners

DJs now have a notification feed that enables them to monitor the success (likes, comments, follows) of their playlists and the growth of their listenership. Everyone needs a little encouragement. Go on, enjoy your new adoring fans!

“Personalized tags” to help discover playlists you love, faster

We did not forget about our listeners! The new web version learns a listener’s music taste using their listening activity (liking, browsing, favoriting), suggesting relevant search tags that can help them discover playlists they’ll hopefully love.

10 Favorite Summer Love Playlists

| BackBeat
For most of us in the northern hemisphere, summer is over. Well, 8tracks Team excluded, for two awesome reasons, one more obvious than the other. For starters, we’re located in San Francisco, so for us Indian Summer has just begun. (Woohoo!!!) Secondly, when you are surrounded by music as much as we are, summer is always in your heart.

 

But we know that for many of you it’s not as easy. You’re probably back at school, trying hard to focus on homework, while your tan still reminds you of the great memories you made over the summer summer. You’d rather be back on that white sand beach, with that sweet boy or girl you fell in love with, partying in Southeast Asia, or dancing your heart out at your favorite music festival.

 

Knowing how much you miss all that, we’ve put together a collection with some of our favorite Summer 2014 playlists on 8tracks. Please enjoy!

 

1. We’d rather be there too…

“Ten tracks including music by BLEACHERS, C2C, and Clean Bandit.”

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Android 3.0 is here!

| BackBeat

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Today we’re beyond excited to unveil the latest advancement in playlist technology: 8tracks 3.0 on Android, available as of today on Google Play. Coming on the heels of a complete redesign of our iPhone, iPad, and Xbox apps earlier this year, the new release features a similar improvement of the design and navigation we brought to those apps. This means we officially have a complete roster of new apps in time for the new school year, which experts predict will improve student test scores by as much as 1000%.

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10 Indie Wedding Playlists

| BackBeat

DIY indie weddings are all the rage now and are often more affordable than traditional weddings. Whether located at a barn, a farmhouse or simply outdoors, the venue and the music at an indie wedding are a match made in heaven, just like the bride and the groom.

We are in the middle of the wedding season and many of us have either attended a wedding recently or are planning (or dreaming of) our own soon. Choosing the right wedding music can be challenging because you want to make sure all guests have a good time, and hear songs that make them want to dance. But you also want to avoid some of the more mainstream, cliche wedding songs.

Whether you are in the middle of planning yours or just dreaming about what it would be like (a girl can dream, right?), we are here to help you create the wedding soundtrack of your dreams. We’ve put together a list with some of the best Indie Wedding Playlists on 8tracks. We hope they inspire you to make your own playlist, perhaps using some of the songs you (re)discovered by listening to the ones recommended below:

1. We do, we do, we do

“A collection of heartfelt love songs fit for any whimsical, indie, rustic, or whatever wedding.”

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Announcing Moshi Summer Sound Winners!

| BackBeat

Two weeks ago we launched a playlist challenge where we asked you to create and share the best summer vibes playlist. The four winners would receive an awesome prize pack courtesy of Moshi, maker of beautifully designed earbuds and other really cool tech accessories. And while we know you guys love making playlists, we weren’t ready for such an overwhelming response: 249 playlists were carefully curated with lots of love and attention to detail. From stunning cover images, to themed playlists, to witty titles, this challenge demonstrated once again how passionate and creative our community is.

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We had a hard time picking the winners. In our eyes, everyone who took the time to create and submit a playlist is a winner. We ended up selecting two playlists that won by popular vote and two that won the hearts of our staff members. Without further ado, the four winning playlists are:

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Summer Sound Mix Challenge

| BackBeat

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Contrary to what Lana Del Ray thinks, summertime is not all about sadness. We’re believers in a summer full of sun, swim and tunes. Whether you’re heading to Bonnaroo, EDC, Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, or your local music festival, we’ve got you covered with a Summer Sound Pack giveaway from our friends at Moshi. Moshi makes some sweet earbuds and other tech accessories, and they’ve put together a pretty solid collection of gear for some lucky 8tracks DJs.

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The new iPhone app is here

| BackBeat

Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of our brand-new “3.0” version of 8tracks on iOS. The new app makes it easy to find the playlists you’ll enjoy most, wherever you may be. We think you’ll love it.

We fully re-designed the app to be bold and beautiful, incorporating both iOS 7 standards and numerous performance enhancements. You can now more readily pick playlists based on what you’re doing (e.g. study, workout, party, sleep) and how you’re feeling (e.g. happy, sad, love, mellow) in combination with a deep selection of genres and artists, a fundamental component of 8tracks since its launch on 8/8/8. Check out some of our favorite updates below.

 

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The new home screen features the Timeline, showing where you last left off; you can swipe right to reveal your playlist history or left to see upcoming playlists. Below it you’ll find your shortcuts, a personalized list of tag combinations and other playlist sets you tune into most frequently. The playlist page has also been redesigned to give you a clearer view of the artwork and easier access to the track listing.

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