Create and share a music compilation

To start listening to compilations and creating new ones, load a web browser and then click once in the Address or Location bar ­ then replace what’s there by typing www.8tracks.com and pressing Return. When the website loads, click the Sign Up button on the right of the screen and then at the next page, pick a user name, type in a valid email address and make up a memorable password. Click the Sign Up button and 8Tracks will create a free account immediately.

Click the Find Mixes link to display the most recent compilations created by 8Tracks users; alternatively, use the search box to find stuff. We’ve clicked a compilation of fiddle music. This loads the compilation itself ­ hover the mouse pointer over the title and when it switches from an arrow to a hand, click there to start listening. The compilation appears top right and the title of the first track comes up in the main window. Click the next track button to see what comes next in the mix.

As each track is played, the title and artist name appear in the main window. Notice that it’s also possible to give an individual track a ‘star’ by clicking on it ­ this adds it to a list of Favourites which can come in useful when creating a new compilation (see Step 6). There’s also room for comments, so listeners can tell the author what they think of their choices. Just click in the text box and start typing. Then click the Say It button to add the comment.

There are a couple of interesting things on the right of this window. First, hover the pointer over ‘Mixes’ to see the other compilations this member has created. Second, check out the ‘Following’ icons ­ these are other 8Tracks enthusiasts that the person who created the music we’re listening to rates and has elected to ‘follow’ to keep up with new compilations as they’re created. Having listened to a couple of other selections by this fiddle-friendly user, we’re clicking the ‘+ Follow’ link to keep up to keep an eye on any new compilations they make.

We can continue to browse music like this or look for something more specific. Click the 8Tracks icon to return to the front page and then click the Find Mixes link. When the search box appears, type in a style of music (or an artist, band or album) and then click the Search button. In this example we’re searching for progressive music and the results include some pretty rich pickings with tracks from the likes of Mike Oldfield, Peter Gabriel, Yes, Genesis and Gentle Giant.

We can also create our own compilation from songs stored on the PC’s hard disk or by trawling 8Track’s existing song library. To do this, click on the Create Mix link at the top and then click the Network tab underneath the box. Start typing the name of an artist or album and 8Tracks will instantly display any tracks in the database which correspond to what’s being typed. The other tabs list any tracks we’ve uploaded (My Tracks) and any tracks that have been marked as favourites (Favorites) ­ see Step 3.

To add a track to a new mix, simply move the pointer over it and then click and hold down the left mouse button while dragging it into the empty box on the right of the screen. Note that 8Tracks’s licence means that each mix must contain at least eight tracks and can’t include more than two tracks from the same artist. Use the search box to find new bands and artists and add them one at a time until the mix is complete. When you’ve finished, click the Next button to continue.

At the next screen type in a name for the compilation, add a description and then spice it up with an appropriate picture. Here it’s possible to add album art from one of the artists you’ve included in the mix by clicking the ‘album art’ link or upload a picture from the PC’s hard disk by clicking the Choose File button. If uploading an image, use Windows’ file commands to find the picture, click on it once to select it and then click the Open button to upload it to the 8Tracks website.

Click the Publish Your Mix button to finish off and it will be added to the site. From now on, visitors will be able to search, listen and comment on it in the same way we did back in Step 3. For this screengrab we’ve actually fast forwarded to the day after we created the mix and discovered that another 8Tracks member has found the compilation and enjoyed it enough to leave a comment.

There are many neat 8Tracks features but we’ll finish with this. Underneath every compilation is the HTML code required to add it to a blog or website. Just click once on the code and then hold down Ctrl and C to copy it to the clipboard. In this screengrab, we’ve added the player and the code to one of our blog pages, created with Blogger; it’s just as easy to add the mix to a personal website or a Facebook or Myspace page ­ their help pages will explain what to do.