The new site has been redesigned from top-to-bottom, greatly simplifying the way users can browse and find new music. For instance, navigating genres from the “browse” music page has become much more user-friendly, with a new navigation bar down the side. Meanwhile, artists pages have been revamped to better section off content, with separate pages for each album, artist info, and seeing what other users are fans of the artist.
Another nice feature is that on the Recommendations page, you can see exactly why a song is being recommended – for example, what songs you’ve purchased and what previous recommendations you have enjoyed that makes the site think you’ll like the new music.
One of the more significant upgrades on the site comes on the Web-based media player. In addition to being able to browse through all of your music and playlists, you can now also look through your friends' tunes via an integrated buddy list. While you’ll need to own a track in order to hear the full stream, co-founder Joshua Boltuch notes that many of the previews on the site are at least a minute long, as the indie artists that make up much of the content are more willing to give away more for free.
