Why I Like Grooveshark
I can't come up with something clever to start off with. Damn, I'm off my game today. Lets hope my article doesn't reflect this unfortunate beginning.
So there are, like, a hundred music sites. I'm fairly sure I've tried them all. The truth is, most of them just suck epically. Either they don't cater to a large enough range of musical talent, or the website is barely functional and rarely working, or the layout just looks stupid. Yeah, the layout is enough to turn me off a website, call me picky if that's what bakes your potato. Of course, there's Spotify. That's all the rage right now, as you may have noticed. If you're like me you just don't really have the time to learn how to use a new app, and, honestly, what does it offer? Playlist.com is fine - it has a nice, minimalistic yet sophisticated layout, the buttons work most of the time - but it has barely any music. For someone who scorns pop music and trashy hip-hop like pet rocks and bell bottoms it just doesn't work out. It's not you, Playlist.com, it's me and my picky underground taste. (I feel I shoud add, here, that I do not scorn upon ALL hip-hop. I respect talent, it's just rare in that genre.) So inevitably I ended up on that other website, Grooveshark. Then I guess I just never left. If you haven't checked it out since the layout update, do, because it's a lot better.
So what do I like about Grooveshark? Lets start out with the basic, boring example of its music. The entire actual purpose to the website. I believe that if you're going to make a website providing people with music, you should live up to your promise and give EVERYONE music. A website that doesn't have an amazing selection of every genre just won't do it for me. It truly comes down to the fact that Grooveshark has bands that even iTunes doesn't have, like Dog Is Dead. Alright, don't attack me, I lied a little. iTunes does have Dog Is Dead. Just not in America. Amazon America doesn't have Dog Is Dead. Spotify has Dog Is Dead - two songs, that is.
Another thing I love about Grooveshark is that you don't HAVE to listen to it in radio-mode, but you can. How many websites allow you to either pick and choose the music you listen to or let them do it for you? Not many, that's the answer to that question. When I'm doing homework I don't want to be distracted by having to pick and choose songs like on YouTube, so it's nice to have the ability to listen to a radio station based off of one of my favorite bands or songs. It's also nice to have the option of listening to an album straight through, or a playlist I or someone else has created. Which brings me to my next point. Artists can have accounts, and this provides you with an interesting feeling of being able to interact with people you practically stalk through the sound waves, and to have that interaction be direct and personal. It's not hitting the like button or leaving a comment amoung the other 60,000 on a YouTube channel, it's making a playlist of your favorite music for an artist and having them send you one back. It's commenting on a song and being replied to directly. There is no sifting through of millions of followers and fan girls, there is no haters commenting on the artist's "sucky" sound. It's just you and millions of other people being able to realize there are humans on the other side of that account, and they sort-of-kind-of know you exist. That's cool, and I like it.
There are a lot of things I don't like about Grooveshark. It needs to take precautions not to turn into a social media site like every other site ever. A music website should be about the music, not about chatting with people you don't know and having one song in your favorites. I, for example, had thousands of songs in my favorites. Until my computer crashed and then I forgot my password and had to start over, but that's besides the point. There are also hundreds more positive things I could say about Grooveshark, but the fact is, I just don't have time. (That's a nice way of saying I don't care enough.) So, if you are looking for a music website to use that doesn't suck like North Korea than you should check it out. Also, if you have similar taste in music to me, you should check out these artists because they are cool and wonderful. You should also create an account and follow me because then I can follow you back and we can all be a big chain of happy music friends.