8tracks Internet Radio is a free online experience that allows you to legally listen to playlists made by others as well as create your own playlists, and it happens to be one of my favorite websites.
Different from Spotify, this radio website allows the user to create an entirely unique music experience based on personal preferences. As stated on the company website, 8tracks has a vision that "Listeners get a unique blend of word-of-mouth sharing and radio programming—long the trusted means for music discovery—on a global scale."
On your homepage, you can see your "liked" playlists, updates from the users you follow and recommended music based on what you've listened to in the past.
If you're looking to expand your knowledge of artists or find a unique and personal playlist, you can create your own playlist by clicking "Explore," which will direct to a page where you can select favorite genres, bands or the current mood you're in. This allows users to blend the perfect playlist for that moment. For example: if you're looking for background music to study with, you might select Chill + Study + Instrumental.
Once preferences are selected, numerous playlists will appear that you can choose from. This is the time to sample a few different playlists until you find one you like.
If you happen to love the playlist, you can add it to your favorites, subscribe to that user for listening to his or her future playlists or share it with your friends via social media. The best part about this whole thing? If your mood changes 20 times a day, like mine sometimes does, you can continuously change your music to fit your mood.
How did I survive before knowing this existed, you ask? Yeah, I'm not sure either.
