Turntable.fm: The Future of Music?

Turntable.fm is a social networking site that allows users to stream music for free to their friends. I first stumbled upon this gem while at work last week. Since its beta version is invite-only, I felt an extreme sense of coolness upon receiving an invitation from my co-worker

Upon entering the room, I felt elated. I had the ability to search for essentially any song ever made and share it with friends. The way it works is that pnce you’ve found the song you’re looking for, you add it to your DJ queue so that when it’s your turn, all of the listeners in the room will experience a seamless transition from the previous DJ’s song to yours.

Each time you Awesome a song, the DJ gets a point, which can be used towards getting avatars.

But the point system needs a makeover, in my opinion. It might just be me, but who really cares about having a pimped-out avatar? A plus of the point system is that it allows you to see how legitimate a DJ is, but it would be even better if Turntable.fm allowed users to use their points towards purchasing songs on a service such as iTunes or Amazon.com. There would then be even more incentive to use Turntable.fm and, by collaborating with a major company like Apple or Amazon, Turntable.fm could expand into a major music empire. But if that were the case, a merger would probably be in order, or Apple or Amazon would simply buyout Turntable.fm.

Considering that Turntable.fm has to deal with tech gurus hacking their system and endless legal questions regarding music licenses, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to partner up with a company that knows the business incredibly well and already has music licenses and agreements intact.

Just sayin’.