FineTune (http://www.finetune.com)

What is it?

-online custom playlist/mixtape experience
--allows users to create customized playlists
--allows users to listen to pre-compiled "stations,"
--provides aspects of social networking
---tag songs
---become a “fan” of artists
---playlists are shareable with everyone

-comprehensive music library
--over 2 million songs from all the major labels
--selections have albums covers, reviews, metadata
--selections cover broad spectrum of time periods and genres

-proprietary recommendation engine compiles form a number of sources
--over 7 years of accumulated data
--100 million listener hours
--13,000 user generated playlists

-accessibility
--no installations required, though an optional desktop player is available
--works in all browsers on all operating systems
--free


What is the site for, generally?

-create custom playlists
--create playlists track by track that will be randomized by finetune
--can be streamed/embedded
--user playlists subject to licensing restrictions
---lists must contain minimum of 45 songs
---no more than 3 songs per artist per list
-- “I’m lazy” button
---completes playlists if a user doesn’t want to select all 45 songs
---finishes it with track similar to what’s already in the list

-listen to one of over 400 professionally programmed playlists
--professional playlists not subject to license restrictions

-artist radio
--Plays songs by a selected artist and other similar artists

-social music
--find songs by tags
--find users that share similar tastes
--13,000 user generated playlists

-music information/purchase
--search for music or artists
--30 second sample
--Links to iTunes or Amazon available.


How could it help promote a teen music collection to the Internet Community?

-ability to select each song allows for creation of promotional playlists
--songs from albums recently purchased by the library
--songs that tie-in to a book display
--songs that fit a theme
---rainy day music
---summer music, songs contain words like “summer” “beach” or sun”
---teen choice mix
----allow teens to submit a song to be included in the mix


How can it help connect teens to new music (aka listener’s advisory)?

-“I’m lazy” button can help them fill a playlist with artists they might like

-Artist radio
--mixes songs by a chosen artists with songs are similar in style

-Professional mixes/stations
--vast variety allows for great exposure to different genres and time periods

--can be used for school assignments or for reference questions
---“I need music from the 60’s”
---“What’s disco?”


How can it be integrated with other services?

-Players that stream created playlists
--can be embedded in tools libraries may already use
---blogs
---MySpace
---traditional websites

-Fully Nintendo Wii compatible
---optimized for Wii’s Opera web browser
---can log in to your and access and play already created playlists

-Classes
---How to make the most of Finetune
---integrate into existing “pimp my MySpace/Blog program”