imeem has been around since 2004, and was started by some people who were responsible for what was once a vital instrument of our internet use, Napster.
Unfortunately Napster was essentially a tool for pirating copyrighted material, and while it still exists, it’s a legitimate music downloading service owned by Best Buy, and isn’t relevant in today’s internet.
imeem on the other hand is a really useful tool that if you’re not already using, you may want to go check out.
What is imeem? In a nutshell it’s YouTube for music. You can find just about any music you can think of and play it in your web browser, for free. Why isn’t the recording industry freaking out? One reason is because the download links are to legitimate services like the iTunes store and Amazon.
What’s the catch and why are the labels allowing this? imeem actually has agreements with many of the big labels, who take a cut of imeem’s advertising revenue. If imeem does not have a deal with a label, the end user only gets a 30 second cut of the song. In my experience, they must have a lot of deals because I rarely get a concatenated song.
In 2007 Warner Bros. actually invested 15 million in imeem, which they have since declined to renew. If these labels were smart, they would all be investing in imeem. This is the sort of thing that sells music and makes them money, which they just don’t seem to get.
imeem allows you to listen to whatever music you feel like wherever you are, as long as you have a web browser and a device capable of sound reproduction. Unlike Pandora, you have a choice of what you listen to.
The music on imeem is uploaded by the users. As a result, I have been able to find many out of print recordings that I wondered if I would ever hear again. Can’t find something on imeem? Upload it yourself and contribute to the network. For that matter, upload your entire music library and enjoy the same tunes anywhere when away from your home workstation.
In addition to being a music sharing service, imeem is a social network which allows you to connect to individuals and groups with similar tastes.
imeem allows you to listen to exactly what you want, create playlists, and engage with other imeem users. I’m a little embarrassed that imeem has been around for as long as it has and I’m only just discovering it. Sometimes you need a little music and you’re not on your own computer. Pandora was better than nothing, but it’s very random and you have to sift through a lot of music you may not care for.
Better late than never. It’s free. It’s legal. imeem is now one of my indispensable web sites.
