Play.fm is a free music streaming platform and

social networking service A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, act ...

for DJ and club culture. DJ sets, radio shows, and live recordings are collected and uploaded by registered users and can be listened to on demand. The platform was started 2004 in Vienna (Austria) by owner Georg Hitzenberger.

Web audio and radio shows archive

Registered users can upload recordings from 30 minutes to 9 hours in length which can then be freely streamed by users on demand and without interruption in CD-quality sound. Users can search the database by DJ, artist, label, genre, club, location, and event. About 110,000 live recordings are available from national and international clubs (e.g.

Flex Flex or FLEX may refer to: Computing * Flex (language), developed by Alan Kay * FLEX (operating system), a single-tasking operating system for the Motorola 6800 * FlexOS, an operating system developed by Digital Research * FLEX (protocol), a comm ...

in Vienna, The Loft in Barcelona, Womb in Tokyo, Rothko in New York City, Space in

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

) and festivals (e.g. springfestival in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

, Stereolize in Paris, Exit in Novi Sad), and well known or newcomer DJs (e.g. DJ Romeo, Coldcut, Sven Väth, Laurent Garnier, Dmitry Tsoy, Tiefschwarz, Miss Kittin, Princess Superstar, Kid Koala, Roots Manuva, Ed Rush and Patife, Carl Craig, Ellen Allien, Gilles Peterson, Derrick May, Jazzanova, DJ Hell, Trentemoller, Marshall Jefferson, Bob Sinclar, Juan Atkins,

Jamie xx James Thomas Smith (born 28 October 1988), known professionally as Jamie xx, is an English musician, DJ, record producer and remixer. He is known for both his solo work and as a member of the English indie pop band The xx. He has been described ...

). Until 2012 the radio shows were recorded and streamed live at the studio in quartier21 ( Museumsquartier),

Cafe, and Expedit, all based in Vienna ( Austria). 150 labels, record stores, event managers, and DJs presented their own radio shows (e.g. Vienna Scientists,

Cheap Records Cheap Records is a record label founded 1993 in Vienna, Austria by Patrick Pulsinger and Erdem Tunakan. Alongside Pulsinger and Tunakan, some artists who have recorded for the label include Christopher Just, Gerhard Potuznik and Robert Hood ...

, Indigo Inc). Together with

Waves Vienna The Waves Vienna – Music Festival & Conference is a yearly international showcase festival for pop music in Vienna, Austria. The lineup is mainly focused on alternative and indie music. The festival takes place in a series of music venues in Vi ...

, an annual music festival and conference, Play.fm organized DJ contests in 2013 and 2014. In 2015 the web site was redesigned and new features were introduced to improve usability and music related social networking.

Awards and funding

Play.fm received funding from Departure in 2008, an initiative of the

City of Vienna A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

and enterprise of the ''Vienna Business Agency''. Together with the Museumsquartier (quartier21), Play.fm was awarding two grants within the framework of an

artist-in-residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

programme for two young international artists for a one-month stay in Vienna. In May 2008 Maik Loewen from Cologne visited the PLAY.FM team. More awards: * MidemNet Lab Finalist (Cannes, 2011) * App Star Award Deutschland /

Cebit CeBIT was the largest and most internationally representative computer expo. The trade fair was held each year on the Hanover fairground, the world's largest fairground, in Hanover, Germany. In its day, it was considered a barometer of cur ...

(Hannover, 2011) * Multimedia & e-Business Award / Category Social Media (Vienna, 2009) * Vienna Leader Web 2.0 (Vienna, 2009) * Mercur Innovation Award / Category Creativity (Vienna, 2009) From 2010 to 2012 Play.fm was also part of the research project "Innovation Network for Smart Applications and Media INSAME / SmartReality", funded by

FFG FFG may refer to: * Austrian Research Promotion Agency (German: '), an Austrian government agency * Fairmount Food Group, an American food industrial company * '' Fallen from Grace'', an album by American hip hop group Insane Poetry * Fantasy Flight ...

/Innovative Oberflächengestaltung von Compositebauteilen (COIN), and alongside

TU Graz Graz University of Technology (german: link=no, Technische Universität Graz, short ''TU Graz'') is one of five universities in Styria, Austria. It was founded in 1811 by Archduke John of Austria and is the oldest science and technology research ...

, Seekda, and

Semantic Technology Institute International Semantic Technology Institute (STI) International is an association of global experts in semantics and services, located in Austria. It has members mostly from Europe, but also from South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore. STI International is govern ...

. The goal was to develop a mobile application, enriched with

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...

and integrating audio content by PLAY.FM.

Apps

Play.fm offers apps for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone.

References

External links

*{{Official Companies based in Vienna Austrian music websites DJ mixes Online music and lyrics databases Austrian social networking websites