the SixtyOne

thesixtyone (t61) is a streaming media website that uses collaborative filtering to organize, promote, and sell music uploaded by artists, many of whom are independent musicians. The site was founded by James Miao and Samuel Hsiung. The site takes its name from Highway 61, a route with deep connections to American music culture. According to the site's "bazaar" where users can purchase songs or mp3 albums uploaded by artists, "thesixtyone's guiding principle is to enable the creative middle class, providing talented artists the opportunity to make a living making music." The site also allows artists to license their music under Creative Commons licenses and allow free downloads.

A big debate was started back in January of 2010, when the site chose to adopt the current minimal interface over the older more conventional one. The new layout sparked controversy among some users, leading them to direct their displeasure on the website's Facebook page, claiming that thesixtyone is a music discovery website where many indie artists could easily find listeners. The community aspect and fun features of the site were what drove users to be so passionate, and when the redesign did away with the greatest features, and killed the freedom to move around and manage playlists, left a big hole in all the hearts of the users and artists alike.

The truth is that thesixtyone makes a serious and very good effort to radically redesign the web-based music entertainment & discovery. Its interface is refreshing and beautiful, in its difference from the rest. The entire browser page is taken up with an image of the band currently-playing, with snippets about the artist fading in and out, while the player controls, along with sharing options, slide elegantly out of tabs on the borders of the page.

To be honest I usually use it as a radio with just the mood selector, listening to beautiful musik while I'm working other stuff.