Current Obsession: Being an Internet DJ

So I have a new addiction. Turntable.fm is the biggest time suck I've ever encountered on the internet. (Okay, that might be a lie. I spent a 12 hour shift at the sleep lab playing a stupid game called Noah's Ark once or twice).

Right now, the service is in beta and invite-only. It's not all that exclusive though. You just have to be facebook friends with someone that's already in (which you probably are if you know me). It's a simple concept, yet, SO brilliant.

Once you've chosen a room to enter, you see that there are 5 DJ spots. It's rare that one is available when you first come into the room. Each room usually has a genre assigned, but the vibe of the crowd always varies. You can also check out the "room info" to see what songs have been recently played to get an idea. Playing your first song as a virgin DJ is a little intimidating. We all know people on the internet can be harsh. If enough people declare your song "LAME", it gets skipped and your ego gets bruised. Luckily, I ended up in a great room with some really nice people and after listening for a few songs I hopped up for my debut. The room had a folk/alt/rock/pop label but the crowd had somewhere along the line decided on a "Location" theme.  The database had almost everything I searched for and if it doesn't, you can upload from your own library. My first choice was a Middle Brother cover of The Replacements' "Portland." After a few seconds, I got a few "Awesome" votes and some heads bopping along to the song with me. One person even said "You'll be just fine here, Elise" after I expressed how anxious it made me.  If someone likes your song, you get a point. The more points you get, the cooler you are. Haha. Avatars are based on the number of points you have. I've only got 960 points to go until I can be a gorilla. And you KNOW i'll get there eventually, as long as there aren't any huge licensing issues that shut it down.

I have already discovered some great tunes and bands from turntable.fm and hope to use it to introduce others to music that I love. If you're interested in checking it out, let me know & I'll open up a room and it will be a little less scary then DJing for strangers.

Another plus: So far I have noticed that it doesn't time out like last.fm or pandora does. As long as there are DJs in the room, it will keep playing.