Why do I make that claim? Because — there’s simply no comparison between twt.fm and Blip.fm; they’re not the same creature ~ and in fact, they’re not even members of the same species!

Blip.fm offers a far more comprehensive experience than twt.fm. The immediacy and sociability of “blipping” (i.e. “tweeting”) playable tunes in real time is profound.

The immediacy of real-time music sharing is something no other social music site can match. Chatting in real-time about a track you just “blipped,” which another user has just played, simply doesn’t exist anywhere else on the web…except Twitter…and Twitter’s mission (and capability) is not to drill down and meet a specialty niche market, but to broaden its scope and appeal.

So, blipping songs with tweet-sized comments synchronously with other “blippers” is pretty alluring and engaging. In fact, I’m pretty sure that the number of “blip-addicted” music fans on Blip.fm is growing exponentially…and will soon reach critical mass. But will all these blipmaniacs explode…or implode…when that tipping point has arrived? : )

On a more serious note, I want Jeff ~ and any or all music fans who haven’t stumbled upon Blip ~ to know this:

I have delved more deeply and widely into vast new musical territories in my short, 4-month tenure as a Blip.fm DJ than I had done in the preceeding twenty years!

Although my musical tastes are eclectic to an extreme, and although I have a voracious appetite for discovery, learning, and research ~ I am not alone in finding that Blip.fm has expanded my musical consciousness to a delighfully shocking degree!

Many Blip.fm members have often expressed their surprise and delight at the magnitude of their “musical discovery” ~ and beyond that, their “cultural discovery” ~ as they mingled with folks from Brasil, Russia, Finland, Germany, Belgium, Vatican City, New Zealand, Japan, and many other parts of the world.

Okay. ‘Nuff said.

I’ll leave out the whole sad saga about imeem and the erosion of multicultural relationships within the Blip.fm community.

I won’t mention the disturbing reduction in the quantity of music that emerged out of a new business relationship between Blip.fm and imeem.com.

I won’t ask questions about all the new imeem tracks we gleefully enjoyed in the very first days of imeem’s integration into Blip.fm’s musical database ~ that have subsequently vanished (along with all those precious user-uploaded files that had created a truly exotic. marvelous, and emotionally-gratifying aesthetic and cultural experience for us all.

It would be futile to try and explain, here in the comments section of TechCrunch ~ how bereft many of us felt when all of our international friends were essentially “locked out” the community ~ the family! the tribe! ~ when their access to the music was blocked or restricted once imeem had “come on board” our teeming, colorful, festive Blip.ship!

To make a long story short, it seems that we have significantly fewer tunes now than we did before imeem brought its largesse to the table.

And even with all of that “tzurris” (to use a perfect Yiddish word for “major stress & hassle) ~ Blip.fm stands “heads and shoulders” above the crowd of “social music sites” and “musical discovery sites” that have become so ubiquitous in recent years.

And try some radios from the internet… kinda cool doing the old way somethime…

However, I live in the UK, so now I won’t get to hear full tracks, just 30 second snippets. That’s just not interesting, it won’t encourage me to buy music, and quite frankly there is no reason for me to stay with blip.fm

To the music industry; this is called shooting yourself in the foot.

If blip loses its variety and becomes another Ilike I will be upset. Until then I’ll use the site!

The real story here is the Imeem API. It breathes life into Blip, my site, and countless others. The labels need to step up and make sure this streaming library stays afloat.

Music that has resulted in purchases from other sites.

Not to mention, being active on Twitter, I really enjoy seeing what other followers are listening to throughout the day.

It will be interesting to see where this site grows from here.

Chris Byrd
Dell Digital Life Evangelist
Follow me on Twitter @ChrisBatDell

Daniel