Ashley Lynch

When I write, music is a huge, huge deal. It helps set the tone and the mood and keeps me moving in a rhythm that allows me to get things done. I recently decided to comb my entire music collection for every track that inspires me so I could collate them all into one playlist.

But there’s an inherrent problem with localized music. Between my desktop computer, my laptop and my home theater setup (yes, I’m a technogeek), having all my music in one place can be issue. Sure I’ve got streaming set up, but it’s far from a perfect system. And what about when I need music on the go? I’m sitting in a coffee shop and want that playlist with me while I write. As it is, I used to have 4GB of music on every device I owned just so I could maintain my writing music in the places I wanted it. Fortunately internet music has come a long way.

Grooveshark

I just discovered Grooveshark which is a dream come true for people like me.  A free account gets you as much music as you want and the in browser player is incredibly easy to use and manipulate.  You can search tracks, create playlists, even properly organize and shuffle everything.

What really makes this stand out is the breadth of selection available.  I have some pretty, freakin obscure stuff in my collection, including a lot of pieces from film scores of years gone by.  What are the chances that grooveshark will have Ennio Morricone’s score from The Thing, or Tom Rothrock’s rumbling bass from the Collateral score?  But they do.  I even found stuff I’ve been looking for and haven’t been able to find elsewhere, like various remixes of Motorcycle’s As the Rush Comes.  And for the really obscure stuff (like I couldn’t find Fred Myrow’s Phantasm score), Grooveshark gives you the opportunity to upload tracks to their expansive database.

Now all I need is an internet connection to be able to access my playlist wherever I want.  Paid subscription removes browser ads and gives you a mobile player for your smartphone.

Pandora

Even though Grooveshark is now my new music player, nothing can replace my Pandora.  This service is particularly special for what the creators call “music DNA.”  You start by adding artists you like to your own personal radio station, and the more artists you feed it, the more it is capable of determining what music you’d like.  And you know what?  I does a really good job of it too.

But just because you love Poe and Holly McNarland, it doesn’t mean you won’t think Lily Allen is a total bitch and resent how much she shows up in your playlist (as she did mine), so fortunately you can ban individual songs or whole artists from your playlist.  Like Grooveshark, Pandora has a wealth of obscure artists and the real gold to be mined here are the artists you don’t even know yet.  I’ve stumbled upon some incredible stuff I never even knew existed, all thanks to Pandora thinking I would like it.  Now artists like Above & Beyond and I Am Jen are a permanent fixture of my music list.  Thank you Pandora.

Likewise, Pandora has a cheap subscription model that gives you ad-free play (including audio ads) and a dedicated player for your desktop.  The one downside is unlike Grooveshark, Pandora cannot stream to Canadian visitors, so you need to use a virutal IP if you want access.  I use Hotspot Shield as a workaround.  It works with Hulu too.

You’re welcome,

Ashley

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grooveshark, pandora