Right next to downloading, music streaming is the next big thing in terms of entertainment on the net. It’s really starting to pick up with many people launching their own private radio stations. While the vast majority are in too small a niche to actually make money, the big companies will.
Spotify are the biggest at the moment. They are the ones to go to for video and music streaming. Recently however, Microsoft announced that it would launch its own music streaming service. This was originally intended for July but has become delayed.
Several other companies are now catching up quickly with streaming services already launched or in the works.
TechCrunch.com contacted Microsoft and this is what they had to say for themselves:
We don’t have much detail to disclose on this subject but what we can share is that, in the coming months, MSN is planning a new music service in Beta via its Music channel in the UK.
“At this stage we won’t be confirming the details behind this but more information will be available soon and will be communicated in due course.”
At any rate, Microsoft had better hop to it if they want to succeed in what it becoming a crowded market. If they let users get too comfortable with one source (as we have see happen in the past with iTunes) then they will not want to move onto any future service provided by Microsoft.
So where are the best places on the net to listen to music for free without downloading anything? Well we have put together this list so that everyone can find the music they want to listen to straight in their browser.
Grooveshark – Grooveshark is a music streaming service that is currently ad supported. Grooveshark has a huge catalogue and there is no need to download any software to use their service. Unlike Spotify for example Grooveshark is straight in your browser and they have a great design to match.
We7 – We7 is a UK based ad supported music streaming service in which lets users stream music straight from their site. We7 has some great exclusive content from some of the major artists here in the UK and all over the world.
HypeM – Hype Machine is a music blog discovery tool in which showcases some of the best free music available on the net. Hype Machine pulls together music blogs and then allows users to play the music via streaming it in their browser.
AudioTube – Audiotube is basically YouTube for music videos. Audiotube allows users to easily search through their huge database and find the music videos they want to stream for free. Videos are streamed inside the browser and all videos also link to a download store in which you can purchase the music. However with the downloading they dont hook into iTunes and Amazon which they really should.
Muzu.tv – Muzu.tv is very similar to Audiotube but they seem to have a bigger catalogue, but apart from that on brief glance the only difference is the colour of the websites. Muzu has a lot more sharing and playlist options compared to Audiotube, thus making it look very similar in layout to Dailymotion.
