When comparing 8 Tracks vs Mixcloud, the Slant community recommends 8 Tracks for most people. In the question“What are the best music streaming services?” 8 Tracks is ranked 15th while Mixcloud is ranked 16th. The most important reason people chose 8 Tracks is:
The site is human-curated not automated. This can give a more personal feel, as each playlist on the music streaming service has been curated by a user.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Individualistic and personalized user playlists
The site is human-curated not automated. This can give a more personal feel, as each playlist on the music streaming service has been curated by a user.
Pro Great for discovering new music
Due to how the service works, listening to user created playlists allows for pretty good discovery of new or undiscovered bands.
Pro Wide & varied content
There is a massive and varied range of content across many styles, genres & vintages all easily found via tags and particularly effective recommendations.
Pro Totally Free
You're free to listen and upload as much as you like, unlike Soundcloud.
Pro Sound Quality
Music sounds crisp and punchy when streaming/playback (if you're using quality headphones/speakers).
Pro Friendly Interface
It's easy to use the simple and beautiful platform, unlike the Archive.org.
Cons
Con Poor music streaming service outside of North America
8Tracks has changed its policy for how it supplies music to those outside of North America by not using any of their servers for those users. This change resulted in using Youtube for those users in order to still have a way to add songs to playlists. Sadly using Youtube results in many songs just disappearing and many playlists becoming defunct.
Con Advertisements in free version
Con No way to find certain songs
8 Tracks allows you to search for a playlist based on keywords, then requires you to listen to most of that playlist without skipping. As such, it's not so good for hunting down a specific song, but is great for discovering new music.
Con Ads even in paid Pro account
Free and Pro Accounts put ads in your content. If you don't want ads, you have to pay 6.99 USD/mo for the Premium account.
Con Engagement tools just for paid accounts
If you want to grow and monitor your audience in the platform, you'll need to sign the Pro account, which costs $15/month or $135/year.
Con Data charges by surprise
Watch out for those data charges if you're on the move.
