So we're thinking of adding the track name to the title of the page, which would help. I've forwarded the greasemonkey script to my colleague to review.
@ theRISKYshift -- agreed. We'll be introducing Amazon links over the next month or so. We'd like to eventually have artist/track pages, but we've a long pipeline so it may be a few more months before we can get to that. Thx for the feedback.
I couldn't re-produce this error but I did find 2 more. Something's up with our Flash player although I don't know why, as no changes have hit in last few days to my knowledge.
@chewbobba The rules around skipping are pretty standard (6X per hour in a given program) though it's a tacit agreement with labels and not addressed in the statutory rules. A 3-hour mix is a possibility but program has to continuously loop (this is what Live365 does); a 5-hour mix can be played from the beginning. The latter is likely only do-able as a "mix-of-mixes".
@chewbobba We're planning to allow DJs to time-code a single MP3, e.g. so can add metadata at various points in the file. This is important for DJs who actually are mixing music. At the outset, this would have the same impact as making each mix play as a single track.
Agreed - this has been annoying. Our next push will include a fix so that you can browse away from and back to a mixpage and the previous tracks played will still show up.
But I think what you're suggesting is to give the option to the *listener*, correct? I really want to find a way to make this happen b/c sequencing is a critical part of mix-making. (Skipping could be an option in either scenario.)
Am I understanding your thinking accurately (feel free to email me at dp@8racks.com if you'd like).
That's an interesting idea. I'd been thinking about it more from the DJ's point of view, as an option, i.e. create short mix that randomizes on 2nd listeners, OR create long mix (at least 5 hours) that does not.
Agree! That's a great idea, C. We've talked about this a little bit internally. It's not easy, but if iTunes can do it we should be able to figure it out. Makes everything a bit more polished.
Also note that if this is your OWN mix, and the tracks are those you uploaded, you *will* soon be able to listen in the intended order (and, in fact, on demand).
Hi Chewbobba, while annoying, we have to randomize in order to comply with the non-interactivity requirements of our license. One potential alternative would be to require that each "program" be at least 5 hours in length; this program could be 1 long mix or a mix-of-mixes including both your or others' mixes.
Samurai.fm is fantastic - I'm a big fan. In fact, the crew there used to use Live365 (the internet radio company I used to help run) for its streaming.
We'd love to have them on the 8tracks platform; our objective is to make it the best way for people who know and love music to share their taste/talent with others.
mmmarcus - my understanding is that this is highly difficult to set up and maintain, screws up search engine results and is generally "bad form" for web development. Any insight / do you agree?
Hi mmmarcus, this is interesting. I believe this is the same approach as Lala and Jango. As a start, we'll allow a user to pop the player to navigate around the site without breaks in the music.
That doesn't sound good. Can you explain further? Is it your mix description, or an inability to change tracks in your mix? If the latter, what happens when you click the Edit Mix link?
Great idea. I'm not sure which we should/will do first, but we want to have an artistpage and a trackpage (with links between these) so visitors on 8tracks can readily navigate in the manner you describe. Love this.
I think that's a great idea. We've talked about creating a dedicated page for each artist, with content pulled in from Wikipedia and a prominent link to an artist's URL of choice.
While this wouldn't give us any greater flexibility on the legal front, we are also looking to offer a way for artists to opt-in to loosen some of the legal restrictions.
I just tried this (Sep 3rd) and seems to be working fine. I edited a blank artist name and album name and then both showed up properly in the Flash player once added to a mix.
We'll soon add the ability for DJs to tag their mixes, and then offer a list of tags (tags = the new genres) for listeners to browse to find mixes of interest.
We'd love to be able to do that, but this would make our service "interactive" as defined by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the law that established the radio-style license under which we operate).
If we were to do deals with record labels for "on-demand" streaming, we could offer this functionality. However, these royalty rates are too expensive to be supported by advertising.
2. Ability for DJs to upload 1 MP3 = a mix of multiple tracks, compiled using Mixmeister or other services. This is something I want to do sooner rather than later, including the ability for a DJ to set "timecodes" corresponding to the beginning of a new track in the mix.
We've tried to give a little bit of overview on 8tracks.com (homepage) but I think you're right in that we should add a more detailed "how-to" or glossary section. I've added this to our feature/bug tracking system. Thx for suggestion.
Hi guys, my apologies for the confusion with this. We set up the "private mix" designation so that mixes that (1) contain less than 8 tracks, or (2) have more than 2 tracks by the same artist are "hidden" (available only to the creator).
We did this so you'd still have access to a mix you've made (even a full album you upload) without getting into trouble with our licensing.
Apologies for this. I suspect the reason the mix didn't play is that you may have clicked on the mix name or Play button within ~1 second of the page opening.
This is the result of our having simplified the code on mixpages in order to fix a persistent playback bug on IE. If you wait (literally) 1 second, you shouldn’t experience any problem with playback.
We'll definitely add this in due course. We'd like to offer this in a bi-directional way: each listen on the 8tracks network gets counted, and we employ your scrobbling information to help recommend mixes of likely interest.
We'll be introducing a client (desktop) uploader that will allow this, as long as the files don't have DRM (digital rights management). So anything you rip in AAC using iTunes can be uploaded.
So we're thinking of adding the track name to the title of the page, which would help. I've forwarded the greasemonkey script to my colleague to review.
0 put track information in the page title instead of username - about 1 month ago
@ theRISKYshift -- agreed. We'll be introducing Amazon links over the next month or so. We'd like to eventually have artist/track pages, but we've a long pipeline so it may be a few more months before we can get to that. Thx for the feedback.
0 Link to websites where I can buy the music I liked. - about 1 month ago
Hi @ theRISKYshift -- very pleased to hear it! Let us know what else we can improve.
0 Keep player playing as I browse around site - about 1 month ago
I think this may have something to do with OSX 10.4. The guys are investigating.
0 Fix the mix link in the embedded player - about 1 month ago
Okay, let me investigate - I suspect we've not noticed this b/c on Tiger. I'll check into it with the guys.
0 Fix the mix link in the embedded player - about 1 month ago
HI Alibi,
I couldn't re-produce this error but I did find 2 more. Something's up with our Flash player although I don't know why, as no changes have hit in last few days to my knowledge.
Can you confirm what OS and browser you're on?
0 Fix the mix link in the embedded player - about 1 month ago
Marcus, I believe we already have this option. Let me confirm with Remi.
0 shorter url alternative - about 1 month ago
@chewbobba The rules around skipping are pretty standard (6X per hour in a given program) though it's a tacit agreement with labels and not addressed in the statutory rules. A 3-hour mix is a possibility but program has to continuously loop (this is what Live365 does); a 5-hour mix can be played from the beginning. The latter is likely only do-able as a "mix-of-mixes".
0 Sort it so that tracks play in the order they are chosen in. - 2 months ago
@chewbobba We're planning to allow DJs to time-code a single MP3, e.g. so can add metadata at various points in the file. This is important for DJs who actually are mixing music. At the outset, this would have the same impact as making each mix play as a single track.
0 Sort it so that tracks play in the order they are chosen in. - 2 months ago
Agreed - this has been annoying. Our next push will include a fix so that you can browse away from and back to a mixpage and the previous tracks played will still show up.
0 Keep player playing as I browse around site - 2 months ago
But I think what you're suggesting is to give the option to the *listener*, correct? I really want to find a way to make this happen b/c sequencing is a critical part of mix-making. (Skipping could be an option in either scenario.)
Am I understanding your thinking accurately (feel free to email me at dp@8racks.com if you'd like).
0 Sort it so that tracks play in the order they are chosen in. - 2 months ago
That's an interesting idea. I'd been thinking about it more from the DJ's point of view, as an option, i.e. create short mix that randomizes on 2nd listeners, OR create long mix (at least 5 hours) that does not.
0 Sort it so that tracks play in the order they are chosen in. - 2 months ago
Agree! That's a great idea, C. We've talked about this a little bit internally. It's not easy, but if iTunes can do it we should be able to figure it out. Makes everything a bit more polished.
0 Can we have an adjustable crossfader facility? - 2 months ago
It's on our short list; we're all nights-and-weekends til we raise funding but we'll do our best to get to this sometime in next couple of months.
0 Scrobbling last.fm - 2 months ago
Also note that if this is your OWN mix, and the tracks are those you uploaded, you *will* soon be able to listen in the intended order (and, in fact, on demand).
0 Sort it so that tracks play in the order they are chosen in. - 2 months ago
Hi Chewbobba, while annoying, we have to randomize in order to comply with the non-interactivity requirements of our license. One potential alternative would be to require that each "program" be at least 5 hours in length; this program could be 1 long mix or a mix-of-mixes including both your or others' mixes.
0 Sort it so that tracks play in the order they are chosen in. - 2 months ago
Can anyone help translate? Thx!
0 あいちん - 2 months ago
Samurai.fm is fantastic - I'm a big fan. In fact, the crew there used to use Live365 (the internet radio company I used to help run) for its streaming.
We'd love to have them on the 8tracks platform; our objective is to make it the best way for people who know and love music to share their taste/talent with others.
0 listen to samurai.fm - quality music! - 3 months ago
mmmarcus - my understanding is that this is highly difficult to set up and maintain, screws up search engine results and is generally "bad form" for web development. Any insight / do you agree?
0 keep music playing while browsing the site - 3 months ago
Hi mmmarcus, this is interesting. I believe this is the same approach as Lala and Jango. As a start, we'll allow a user to pop the player to navigate around the site without breaks in the music.
0 Keep player playing as I browse around site - 3 months ago
We're going to be rolling out a better approach (player pops out) in the coming week or 2.
0 Keep player playing as I browse around site - 3 months ago
That doesn't sound good. Can you explain further? Is it your mix description, or an inability to change tracks in your mix? If the latter, what happens when you click the Edit Mix link?
0 Why can't I edit my mix? This is frustrating. - 3 months ago
Great idea. I'm not sure which we should/will do first, but we want to have an artistpage and a trackpage (with links between these) so visitors on 8tracks can readily navigate in the manner you describe. Love this.
0 allow linking to external sites - 3 months ago
I think that's a great idea. We've talked about creating a dedicated page for each artist, with content pulled in from Wikipedia and a prominent link to an artist's URL of choice.
While this wouldn't give us any greater flexibility on the legal front, we are also looking to offer a way for artists to opt-in to loosen some of the legal restrictions.
0 turn off shuffle - 3 months ago
Hi phylum sinter - the player currently links to the mixpage. Do you mean specifically a link to more info on the artist?
0 allow linking to external sites - 3 months ago
Yes, we'll offer mix recommendations down the road (check also http://8tracks.uservoice.com/pages/general/suggestions/13776).
0 Add your favourit Mix to a Playlist - 3 months ago
No, but we'll cover this in FAQs soon. What do you mean by "official pages?
0 turn off shuffle - 3 months ago
I just tried this (Sep 3rd) and seems to be working fine. I edited a blank artist name and album name and then both showed up properly in the Flash player once added to a mix.
0 fix album title update bug - 4 months ago
Philippe, okay, we'll look toward getting scrobbling on 8tracks in place first, then use the Last.fm APIs to support our recs.
0 Scrobbling last.fm - 4 months ago
We just rolled out the ability for listeners to continue to browse around the site with playback immediately re-connecting from page to page.
0 Keep player playing as I browse around site - 4 months ago
We'll soon add the ability for DJs to tag their mixes, and then offer a list of tags (tags = the new genres) for listeners to browse to find mixes of interest.
0 Add tag functionality - 4 months ago
Didn't realize this - let me try typing feedback again.
0 don't do auto search in feedback - 4 months ago
We'd love to be able to do that, but this would make our service "interactive" as defined by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the law that established the radio-style license under which we operate).
If we were to do deals with record labels for "on-demand" streaming, we could offer this functionality. However, these royalty rates are too expensive to be supported by advertising.
0 Allow more control over the player. - 4 months ago
2. Ability for DJs to upload 1 MP3 = a mix of multiple tracks, compiled using Mixmeister or other services. This is something I want to do sooner rather than later, including the ability for a DJ to set "timecodes" corresponding to the beginning of a new track in the mix.
0 allow gapless playback - 4 months ago
Good thoughts. There's 2 things I'd like to see here:
1. Gapless playback b/n tracks (with some sort of nice fade-in/out). Not sure this is easy but would be nice to have in place (like iTunes).
0 allow gapless playback - 4 months ago
Love this idea, and we're looking to add recommendations, possibly leveraging the Last.fm APIs, in the months ahead.
We def need to provide better ways to help listeners find relevant mixes, and we'll be rolling out genre tags shortly.
0 Recommend mixes/DJs based on listening history/stars - 4 months ago
Cool - pleased to hear it! We've something in the works, with release in the next month or 2.
0 Offer a native iPhone app - 4 months ago
Sorry for this, I know the randomization is annoying.
Currently, every listener gets the correct/intended order when he or she first tunes into a mix. On the 2nd listen, the ordering gets randomized.
I've been working with our legal counsel to try to find a better way to meet the requirements of the compulsory license (as exposur3 notes above).
Stay tuned.
0 turn off shuffle - 4 months ago
Yes, agree we should have that. Let me investigate.
0 allow linking to external sites - 4 months ago
Hi Shewgaze,
We took down the Flash code as changed some of the settings. The code will be added back this upcoming week.
2 I'd like a myspace player for my mix - 4 months ago
We've tried to give a little bit of overview on 8tracks.com (homepage) but I think you're right in that we should add a more detailed "how-to" or glossary section. I've added this to our feature/bug tracking system. Thx for suggestion.
0 make it obvious how to use this thing - 4 months ago
Thanks Chrys
0 fix the image/art bug. not working here - 4 months ago
What contact info do you think would be appropriate?
0 Additional public profile/user info - 4 months ago
We'd had ability to list your personal webpage (social network profile, blog, etc) but removed for simplicity at outset. We'll add this back soon.
0 Additional public profile/user info - 4 months ago
I think the intro dubs are great - it's adds some character/personality to a mix.
That's odd re the email notification. Let me check with UserVoice on this one and confirm.
0 Switch from private mix to pubic mix - 4 months ago
I think that there may be something wrong with the "switch" from private to public, and Rich (our developer) is investigating this afternoon.
0 Switch from private mix to pubic mix - 4 months ago
Hi guys, my apologies for the confusion with this. We set up the "private mix" designation so that mixes that (1) contain less than 8 tracks, or (2) have more than 2 tracks by the same artist are "hidden" (available only to the creator).
We did this so you'd still have access to a mix you've made (even a full album you upload) without getting into trouble with our licensing.
0 Switch from private mix to pubic mix - 4 months ago
Apologies for this. I suspect the reason the mix didn't play is that you may have clicked on the mix name or Play button within ~1 second of the page opening.
This is the result of our having simplified the code on mixpages in order to fix a persistent playback bug on IE. If you wait (literally) 1 second, you shouldn’t experience any problem with playback.
0 Does 8tracks support Firefox 3.0.1? Mixes aren't playing... - 4 months ago
We'll definitely add this in due course. We'd like to offer this in a bi-directional way: each listen on the 8tracks network gets counted, and we employ your scrobbling information to help recommend mixes of likely interest.
0 Scrobbling last.fm - 4 months ago
Nice. We've gotten something in the works that will help you, coming this fall.
0 make an iphone friendly page - 5 months ago
Good idea. I've added this to our list of potential content items for userpages. Thx for suggesting!
0 enable user to see who is following them - 5 months ago
We'll be introducing a client (desktop) uploader that will allow this, as long as the files don't have DRM (digital rights management). So anything you rip in AAC using iTunes can be uploaded.
0 Allow me to upload AAC (m4a) tracks - 5 months ago
We'd love to do this but can't legally, under the terms of "radio-style" licensing. We want to abide by these rules so we can stay in business : )
0 allow me to replay a track by clicking on its title - 5 months ago