Turntable.fm is good, because it's a fun way to listen to music online with your friends. Turntable.fm is bad, because it'll suck your already strained attention span down a black hole. Nonetheless, you should be on it. Here's how.
So Wait, What Is It?
Turntable is a musical chat room. You like talking to your friends. You like playing your favorite songs. You like hearing good songs you
didn't pick. Turntable puts all of these nice things into one cartoonish online dance floor. Five DJs at a time queue up tracks of their choosing, while everyone else sits back and enjoys. Or doesn't enjoy! If a dud comes on, the audience can vote it off the speakers with enough dislike clicks. Or if a DJ's playing good stuff, you can reward them with likes, which translate into points, which are worn around as a badge of distinguished taste.
Simple enough, right? Well, like anything else on the internet, when you put a bunch of people into a small space and expect them to all get along perfectly, there will be bumps. But it doesn't have to be bad! In fact, Turntable makes it pretty easy for everyone to live and listen together in peace, so long as you stick to some decent ground rules.
Consider Going Private
Turntable offers the option to make either a private room that won't be listed in their directory (and is accessible only via a particular URL), or to open your party hut to the listening public.
If all you want is to listen to music with some officemates, friends, or other intimate avatars, you might be best served by keeping the door closed. A private room means not having to deal with strangers. No "Hey, you took my DJ spot" or "Why does this guy keep playing Enya" moments. (Side note: I love Enya, so that guy is probably me).
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