AOL Music Team Blog

Hi folks,

The AOL Radio team just released the new radio toolbar today! This toolbar allows listeners to have instant, one-click access to AOL Radio no matter what website they are on. AOL Radio fans can also add their favorite stations to the toolbar by clicking on the 'add a station' button.

You can click here to download the toolbar.

Hi folks,

We have just launched a brand new music news module on all of our artist pages. This module will search the web for the latest news on your favorite artist. Whether it is a blog post, online article, review or music website, now you can get all the latest straight from the artist's page.

You can narrow your search to three categories: All News, AOL Music News and Blogs.



We hope you all enjoy this new feature. As always, let us know what you think! Click here to send us feedback, or you can leave a comment on this blog. Thanks!

- Jake, AOL Music Product Guide

Hi Everybody,

We are very excited to announce that we have launched music profiles on AOL Music! This is just the first release. We will be adding new features throughout the year. You can check out the profile I've made here. (And yes I know my first concert is totally lame :), I was almost compelled to lie)



This release will allow you to build a basic profile. Features include:

1) Bio: This is free form. Describe yourself, what makes you tick, how your friends would sum you up. Whatever grabs your fancy.

2) Profile Picture, Location, Favorite Links: Pretty self-explanatory.

3) Music Facts: What was the first concert you went too? First album you owned? Let everyone know with this easy to use list, and then compare lists with your friends and other AOL Music users.

4) Playlists: View, edit and rate your own playlists and check out your friend's playlists directly from a profile page.

5) Profile Stats: Keep tabs on how many times your profile has been viewed.

Creating a profile is easy. In fact, if you have an AIM screen name, you just need to sign in to get started with your music profile. If you don't have an AIM screen name, you can register at aim.com, or click on 'register' in the global navigation. They are free and easy to get!

To view or edit your profile, simply sign in to the site using the sign-in link in the upper right hand corner. Once signed in, you can go to your profile dashboard where you can make your edits and view activity.



We hope that you all start personalizing your pages and adding your own flavor to AOL Music. Soon we will be adding more functionality to better connect you with your friends and the artists you like. As always, we love to hear from you all. Click here to send us any comments/issues that may arise. Thanks!

- Jake, AOL Music Product Guide

Hi folks,

We are very excited to let you all know that we have just launched our all new Tour Tracker site! Find out which artists and shows are in your area, where your favorite band is touring this summer, buy tickets and more! Check out some of the cool new features below:

1) Find out where your favorite bands and artists are playing, as well as which shows are going to be in your area, using the search bar. This search bar will also appear on all of the artist pages and main page of AOL Music.



2) Check out which shows are playing in your area over any time frame. Using Mapquest right on the page, you can locate each venue.



3) Go to your favorite band or artist's personal Tour Tracker page and you can get all of the updated info on their current tour, purchase tickets, find out what fans are saying and more. You can also check out videos, photos, and live news for all your favorite artists.



4) Using our Heat Index, track which upcoming shows, artists and tours are the hottest.



5) Check out comments and reviews of recent shows to get the scoop on what's hot and what's not. Know an artist that's amazing live? Spread the word. And soon we'll be offering more ways for you to share your experiences with other users.

Those are just some of the features that we are rolling out with. Stay tuned as we continue to add cool new features and tools to the site. As always, we love to hear your feedback! Click here to send us any comments/suggestions.

- Jake, AOL Music Product Guide

Hi all,

Did you know that you can add descriptions to your playlists? Whether it is a story, description or how you are feeling at that moment; it's just another way that you can personalize playlists. Here's how to do it:

1) When looking at your list of playlists, click on the one you want to personalize.

2) In the upper right corner, click 'Edit Playlist Info.'



3) A flyout will appear, and you can add your description. Click OK and you are all set!

You're now ready to start describing your playlists! Let us know if you have any concerns or problems. Thanks!

- Jake, AOL Music Product Guide

Hi everyone,

We wanted to take a sec and tell you about a playlist feature many of you are asking about: combining playlists! You can combine any of your playlists together to create the ultimate mix. Combining playlists is simple:

1) Just click on any of your playlists.

2) Above the playlist will be a box that looks like this:



3) Simply click "Add All," and pick which of your playlists you would like to combine w/ this one.

Hope you guys enjoy this new feature, as always let us know what you think by either commenting on this post or sending us Feedback.

- Jake, AOL Music Product Guide

Update: To find your old playlists go to: http://video.aol.com/my_library

Hi Everybody,

We wanted to let you all know that we have made some improvements to the playlisting experience. Check them out below:

1) We now have a playlist hub! You can search for specific playlists, find out where yours rank, search for new videos and songs to add, and check out the most popular, highest rated and newest lists to date.



2) Find out which playlists your favorite videos or songs are on. On every video and song page, you will see a list of all the playlists that it appears on. To find out which playlists feature your favorite artists, just check out their artist page. You can browse through those playlists and add any videos you'd like!



3) With the module on music main, we've made it easier to check out the top playlists, search for videos and songs, go to the playlist hub and get to your own mixes.

4) We have simplified how we are handling lists. Lists are now all permanent. This way, you won't accidentally lose your list if you delete your cookies or move to another computer. However, you can still add a song to your player without interrupting the currently playing song by right clicking the 'play' button (control click on a mac).

We hope you enjoy these new features, and keep the feedback coming! As always, let us know what you think at aolmusiccomments@aol.com.

- Jake, AOL Music Product Guide

Hi Everybody,

We are very excited to announce our new song and video playlisting experience on AOL Music! Creating a playlist is easy! Just follow these simple steps:

1) Select any video or song you want to add by clicking the + button next to the song or video. If you don't see an add button next to an asset, check back again soon, as we get new assets all the time.

2) If you haven't already created a playlist, you can click on 'create new playlist' in the add flyout. Make sure you are signed in so that all options are available to you. If you don't have an AIM screenname, they are free! You can get one at www.aim.com.



3) If you are creating a video playlist, you can also add to your video quicklist. This is a special list that you can access even if you aren't signed in. But if you don't want to lose your list of videos, make sure you sign in and save your quicklist as a playlist!



4) If you are creating an audio playlist, you can also add songs to your now playing queue. This adds the song to your audio player, but doesn't interrupt the song you are currently listening to.

5) Once you've created a playlist, you can keep adding songs or videos to it. Create as many playlists as you'd like.



Creating a playlist is just the half of it. Once a playlist has been created, you can edit the name, add and delete videos/songs, shuffle the order and share w/ your friends! Not only will you be able to view your playlists, but you will be able to check out your friends' playlists as well. Along w/ all of that, you can also create an RSS feed which will allow your friends to get updates every time you add videos/songs to your playlist.

If you have already created a playlist, you can still access them at this URL: http://video.aol.com/my_library

We hope you all enjoy this new feature and remember to stay tuned, as we will be rolling out new features and improvements to playlists in the near future. As always, let us know what you think at aolmusiccomments@aol.com.

Jake - AOL Music Product Guide

Hi Everybody,

Our new Radio 4.0 experience is no longer in Beta and has been officially released. Click here to check out the all new AOL Radio 4.0. As mentioned in our previous Beta post, new features include:

• New Interface - Now get more out of your Radio experience with a new, slick interface that's easier to navigate and with more editorial content.
• Faster Access - Free users no longer have to pass through a welcome page, you go right to the player.
• More Station Presets - You asked for it, we delivered. Now bookmark up to 10 of your favorite AOL Radio stations! (But we must warn you, you'll need to reset your presets when you use Radio 4.0 for the first time. SORRY)
• Firefox on Mac Support - Mac users can now enjoy the same player as PC users on the web using Firefox. No more signing in!
• Improved Vista support - Vista users will have a more seamless experience when accessing the radio player.

Be sure to send us your feedback at aolmusiccomments@aol.com. Also, please continue to visit the AOL Music Product blog for more updates as we continue to improve the Radio experience.

Hope you all enjoy the new experience!

- Jake, AOL Music Product Guide

Hi All,

We're happy to announce that we've just launched our new and improved photos experience! You can check out all of the new features at http://music.aol.com/pictures/most-viewed. These include:

1) A new photo hub with the ability to browse by artist and genre.
2) An enlarge button to zoom in on your favorite artists.
3) The ability to sort photos by views, ratings and recency.
4) Rate, tag, share and comment capabilities. View and rank your favorite artist photos so they rank higher!
5) A featured galleries module so you know where the action is.
6) Ability to search photos by artist name and caption.

We hope you enjoy the new experience! Stay tuned for more new features and changes down the road!

As always, we love to hear feedback from you. You can send any comments/suggestions to aolmusiccomments@aol.com. Thanks!

- Jake, AOL Music Product Guide