mixcloud.com
With so many new music streaming services being released all the time, it can be a little difficult to stand out from the rest. To be unique and necessary, a music streaming app needs to do something that nobody else has done before. Or it needs to at least do something in a way that's never been done before.
Some people have attempted to bring radio into the digital age by merely offering a live stream of local radio stations. Others have taken elements of the radio listening experience and embellished or improved upon them, making the most of them in the modern age. One example would include iHeart Radio or Pandora, which allow the listener to create customized radio stations, tailored to their own unique taste and interests.
New sites popping up in the music space just keep on coming, but they all seem to pale in comparison to one another. Even the more popular contemporary spins on the traditional radio model feel tired by now, as we enter 2020. Luckily, you always stumble upon a new site that offers something completely different than other music streaming platforms. This fresh take on an old relic of radio is something you don't see every day.
The site I am talking about, of course, is Mix Cloud - a British streaming service that managed to find a new and interesting angle in the world of music streaming services.
Mix Cloud is a social network where people can share their favorite radio shows. It's been a dying art form, but Mix Cloud has given it a new life by making it social.
In the past, radio stations were only allowed to broadcast shows based on where they were located. With Mix Cloud, this has changed so that anyone can access independent radio shows from all over the world, and then also create their own broadcasts. We'll get into all of what Mix Cloud enables later on. For now, let's explore how it came to be.
History
Mix Cloud began as a startup in 2008. The founders, Nico Perez and Nikhil Shah, met on campus at the University of Cambridge. Shortly thereafter, developers Sam Cooke and Mat Clayton were added to the team.
The website Mix Cloud experienced a bit of a meteoric rise in popularity within just five years. Within that time, Mix Cloud was able to generate over 3 million active users, along with around 500,000 users who registered through Facebook. And in October of 2017, Mix Cloud signed a licensing deal with Warner Music - making it clear that this company is not about to slow down any time soon.
Design
Finally, everything on the site is easy to access and navigate, whether you are looking for new music to listen to or just want to see what your friends are up to.
Let's see... how can I most accurately describe Mix Cloud's site design? Hmm... I think it is probably best depicted as a sort of cross between Sound Cloud and Facebook. What I mean by this, is that Mix Cloud employs a gentle blue and white theme with a very prominent news feed at the front and center of all activity on the site. However, it is music-based and an audio streaming app, so when you click into profiles, you will find a list of playable audio which is very reminiscent of Sound Cloud. Finally, everything on the site is easy to access and navigate, whether you are looking for new music to listen to or just want to see what your friends are up to.
The site is very intuitive and easy to use. Especially for anyone who is already familiar with social networking sites and/or sites like Sound Cloud. On the right side of your news feed, you will find a few suggested people to follow. The more people that you follow, the smarter these suggestions will become. To the left of your news feed, you will be able to quickly navigate a site menu bar and user toolbox consisting of the following options: Feed, New Shows, Favorites, History, Listen Later, Playlists, and Trending.
There's nothing to digging on this site - it's designed well and provides easy access to whatever you need. That's great to see in a site like this, which can make it easy to get lost down a rabbit hole. It's always nice to have a quick link back home.
Content
Mix Cloud is a music streaming service that is different from other services on the market. In the content that it provides, Mix Cloud focuses on being a unique format that caters to people who like to have complete control over their listening experience. If you are someone who prefers to have more control over your music and audio streaming service, Mix Cloud may not be the best option for you.
MixCloud is a website where DJs and radio show hosts can put together blocks of programming that are mostly music or mostly talking. If you think you have what it takes, be sure to put your programming on Mix Cloud and see how many fans you can amass.
MixCloud is a great way for amateurs and podcasters to gain experience. In fact, if you're talented and savvy enough, you could potentially finance your radio dream via MixCloud. So, not only can people simply follow your page like a social media account, but if they really like what you do, they can subscribe to your content for X dollars per month (the broadcaster sets the price).
This is great news for the DJs, hosts, and podcasters because it takes advantage of crowdsourcing. But it's also great news for listeners because you don't have to pay for the service in general, just the content that you genuinely enjoy and want to support.
Desktop and Mobile Experience
I am a huge fan of the desktop experience. I think it's a great example of intuitive site design (which is not always easy to pull off when your site has a social media component to it). You can easily just roll your Facebook account into a Mix Cloud account, too, which is very convenient.
Despite being a well-designed app, there are many glitches and bugs to contend with that make the listening experience frustrating.
Sometimes, pausing a mix can cause you to lose your place in the mix, meaning you have to manually scrub through to find where you were before you paused. This is one of the flaws that seem very basic and should have been addressed long ago.
Pricing and Plans
Well, Mix Cloud is a free service. If you wanted, you could never pay anything (save for the shows you wish to support). However, the free version comes with limitations such as only being able to seek forward in a mix, only being able to play 3 shows every 2 weeks, and having to put up with ads.
The Premium version of Mix Cloud costs $7.99 per month, and it removes all of the limitations present in the free version. Additionally, Premium users can view tracklists of radio shows ahead of time, something that the free version does not allow.
Suggestions that I have for Mix Cloud
I think that Mix Cloud needs to fix their app so that it works more smoothly. I don't like having to deal with glitches all the time, especially if I'm paying for the service.
Do you think Mix Cloud could add a feature where users could listen to individual songs without having to switch over to Spotify? It would be super helpful if that were possible, because currently I have to switch over every time I want to hear a new song.
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