MixCloud re-thinks Radio

UK-born MixCloud aspires to be the equivalent of YouTube for radio shows.  It's new – just open to the public.

The world of Internet radio is notoriously fragmented and disorganized.  MixCloud is trying to bring the same structure to that world that YouTube brings to online video.  Along with some social razzle-dazzle and some personalization.

MixCloud is about playing talk or music shows – not just individual songs.  So it's really about choosing the filter that features each song rather than the song itself.  If you have a favorite DJ or a favorite show, not just a favorite song, then MixCloud could be the place for you.

Right now, the shows currently lean towards club music and DJs. Club DJ's have followings, obviously, so this tool is particularly suited to them.

What I really like about MixCloud is that it theoretically allows any listener so inclined to consume radio in whatever bite-sized fragment she prefers and to knit together her own meta-station from those bits and pieces.  While this is probably not something that Joe and Jane Average want to do, the theme of consumer control will continue to nip at radio's heels whether we like it or not.

If conventional radio is a place where we decide what you will hear and you have virtually no say in the matter and Pandora is a place where the mix is matched to you personally, then MixCloud provides a third answer – mixes that appeal to you but are not designed for you, hosted by real people with real passions.

Check out MixCloud.

What is Mixcloud? from Mixcloud on Vimeo.