<s>
8tracks.com	B-Application
is	O
an	O
internet	O
radio	O
and	O
social	O
networking	O
website	O
revolving	O
around	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
streaming	O
user-curated	O
playlists	O
consisting	O
of	O
at	O
least	O
8	O
tracks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
site	O
also	O
has	O
a	O
subscription-based	O
service	O
,	O
8tracks	B-Application
Plus	O
,	O
although	O
this	O
is	O
currently	O
only	O
available	O
to	O
listeners	O
based	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
and	O
Canada	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
8tracks	B-Application
is	O
recognized	O
on	O
Time	O
magazine	O
's	O
2011	O
incarnation	O
of	O
its	O
"	O
50	O
Best	O
Websites	O
"	O
List	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
8tracks	B-Application
also	O
received	O
positive	O
press	O
in	O
Wired	O
,	O
CNET	O
,	O
and	O
Business	O
Insider	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Citing	O
difficulties	O
with	O
funding	O
and	O
maintaining	O
royalty	O
payments	O
,	O
8tracks	B-Application
ceased	O
its	O
services	O
on	O
31	O
December	O
2019	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
on	O
19	O
April	O
2020	O
,	O
8tracks	B-Application
relaunched	O
under	O
the	O
new	O
ownership	O
and	O
operation	O
of	O
BackBeat	O
Inc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
Porter	O
's	O
major	O
influences	O
for	O
the	O
project	O
was	O
Napster	B-Application
,	O
more	O
specifically	O
its	O
"	O
Hotlist	O
"	O
feature	O
,	O
which	O
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
add	O
other	O
users	O
to	O
their	O
"	O
hot	O
list	O
,	O
"	O
consequently	O
giving	O
them	O
access	O
to	O
that	O
user	O
's	O
entire	O
library	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
rise	O
of	O
Web	O
2.0	O
,	O
Porter	O
finally	O
decided	O
to	O
found	O
8tracks	B-Application
in	O
Fall	O
2006	O
,	O
and	O
after	O
compiling	O
a	O
preliminary	O
team	O
,	O
was	O
able	O
to	O
launch	O
the	O
site	O
on	O
August	O
8	O
,	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2011	O
,	O
8tracks	B-Application
made	O
its	O
debut	O
in	O
the	O
Android	B-Application
Market	O
,	O
launching	O
with	O
more	O
than	O
300,000	O
mixes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
Android	B-Application
2.1	O
or	O
higher	O
device	O
is	O
required	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
app	O
,	O
but	O
Market	O
stats	O
reveal	O
more	O
than	O
10,000	O
downloads	O
within	O
days	O
of	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Between	O
2011	O
and	O
2015	O
,	O
there	O
was	O
also	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
tracks	O
from	O
SoundCloud	O
provided	O
by	O
8tracks	B-Application
for	O
DJs	O
to	O
add	O
to	O
their	O
mix	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2013	O
,	O
8tracks	B-Application
made	O
its	O
debut	O
in	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
8	I-Application
App	B-Application
Store	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
Windows	B-Application
8	I-Application
Pro	O
or	O
RT	O
device	O
including	O
desktop	O
PCs	O
and	O
tablets	O
were	O
able	O
to	O
access	O
the	O
app	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
early	O
2016	O
,	O
8tracks	B-Application
was	O
required	O
to	O
stop	O
offering	O
streaming	O
music	O
via	O
its	O
app	O
outside	O
of	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
and	O
Canada	O
,	O
and	O
instead	O
started	O
to	O
use	O
YouTube	O
videos	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
initially	O
8tracks	B-Application
did	O
not	O
feature	O
commercial	O
interruption	O
during	O
playlists	O
,	O
they	O
adopted	O
them	O
in	O
2018	O
,	O
to	O
remove	O
their	O
listening	O
cap	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
were	O
able	O
to	O
bypass	O
these	O
ads	O
by	O
buying	O
a	O
subscription	O
service	O
,	O
8tracks	B-Application
plus	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
26	O
December	O
2019	O
,	O
8tracks	B-Application
announced	O
in	O
a	O
blog	O
post	O
that	O
they	O
intended	O
to	O
cease	O
operations	O
at	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
year	O
due	O
to	O
lack	O
of	O
revenue	O
and	O
a	O
lack	O
of	O
interest	O
in	O
their	O
purchase	O
by	O
any	O
larger	O
company	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
on	O
19	O
April	O
2020	O
,	O
8tracks	B-Application
relaunched	O
under	O
the	O
new	O
ownership	O
and	O
operation	O
of	O
BackBeat	O
Inc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Individual	O
songs	O
within	O
a	O
playlist	O
each	O
featured	O
a	O
direct	O
link	O
to	O
iTunes	B-Operating_System
should	O
the	O
user	O
wish	O
to	O
purchase	O
that	O
song	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
also	O
could	O
embed	O
the	O
mixes	O
they	O
created	O
and	O
share	O
them	O
through	O
social	O
networking	O
sites	O
such	O
as	O
Facebook	B-Application
,	O
Twitter	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Tumblr	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
8tracks	B-Application
also	O
had	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
reverse	O
sync	O
with	O
these	O
social	O
networking	O
sites	O
to	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
easily	O
find	O
their	O
"	O
friends	O
"	O
and	O
expand	O
their	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Anyone	O
could	O
upload	O
a	O
playlist	O
to	O
become	O
a	O
"	O
DJ	O
"	O
on	O
8tracks	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mixes	O
needed	O
to	O
include	O
a	O
minimum	O
of	O
eight	O
songs	O
,	O
uploaded	O
from	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
personal	O
music	O
library	O
or	O
directly	O
accessed	O
from	O
the	O
8tracks	B-Application
library	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
searched	O
for	O
mixes	O
by	O
individual	O
artist	O
,	O
specific	O
genre	O
,	O
or	O
by	O
utilizing	O
the	O
"	O
cloud	B-Application
"	O
feature	O
that	O
sorts	O
mixes	O
by	O
tags	O
(	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
8tracks	B-Application
had	O
an	O
official	O
Android	B-Application
,	O
iPhone	O
,	O
Windows	O
8.x	O
,	O
Xbox	O
360	O
and	O
Mac	O
app	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
several	O
unofficial	O
third	O
party	O
apps	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
8tracks	B-Application
 '	O
development	O
stack	O
was	O
built	O
using	O
Ruby	B-Application
on	I-Application
Rails	I-Application
running	O
on	O
Amazon	O
AWS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
datastores	O
,	O
MySQL	B-Application
(	O
on	O
Amazon	O
RDS	O
)	O
was	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
database	O
systems	O
used	O
include	O
:	O
Redis	B-Operating_System
,	O
Solr	B-Language
,	O
MongoDB	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Graphite	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
8tracks	B-Application
also	O
allowed	O
other	O
developers	O
to	O
use	O
it	O
,	O
and	O
hosted	O
a	O
forum	O
to	O
allow	O
them	O
to	O
ask	O
questions	O
to	O
staff	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
requesting	O
for	O
a	O
unique	O
artist	O
tag	O
,	O
Artists	O
were	O
able	O
to	O
promote	O
their	O
music	O
on	O
8tracks	B-Application
with	O
a	O
special	O
account	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
using	O
8tracks	B-Application
to	O
promote	O
their	O
music	O
,	O
fans	O
were	O
able	O
to	O
interact	O
with	O
artists	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Notable	O
artists	O
who	O
used	O
8tracks	B-Application
to	O
promote	O
their	O
music	O
include	O
:	O
Metric	O
,	O
Bassnectar	O
,	O
Carolina	O
Liar	O
,	O
and	O
B.o.B.	O
</s>
<s>
8tracks	B-Application
attempted	O
to	O
reach	O
profitability	O
by	O
partnering	O
with	O
brands	O
looking	O
to	O
open	O
channels	O
of	O
communication	O
with	O
potential	O
consumers	O
through	O
"	O
music-centric	O
interactive	O
marketing	O
"	O
campaigns	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
apparel	O
store/community	O
Threadless	O
partnered	O
with	O
8tracks	B-Application
to	O
host	O
a	O
monthly	O
contest	O
in	O
which	O
Threadless	O
 '	O
warehouse	O
crew	O
judges	O
playlists	O
and	O
the	O
curator	O
of	O
their	O
favorite	O
mix	O
wins	O
a	O
$50	O
gift	O
certificate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
promote	O
their	O
new	O
,	O
retro	O
Piiq	O
headphones	O
,	O
Sony	O
ran	O
a	O
contest	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
fashion	O
website	O
Lookbook	B-Algorithm
where	O
users	O
created	O
mixes	O
representative	O
of	O
"	O
A	O
Day	O
in	O
the	O
Life	O
(	O
of	O
You	O
)	O
"	O
and	O
those	O
with	O
the	O
most	O
likes	O
won	O
fashion	O
and/or	O
music-related	O
prizes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Rolling	O
Stone	O
also	O
added	O
an	O
interactive	O
element	O
to	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
its	O
yearly	O
"	O
Playlist	O
Issue	O
"	O
by	O
compiling	O
genre-specific	O
celebrity	O
-	O
and	O
artist-curated	O
playlists	O
that	O
were	O
hosted	O
through	O
the	O
magazine	O
's	O
8tracks	B-Application
user	O
page	O
and	O
also	O
embedded	O
on	O
the	O
Rolling	O
Stone	O
website	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
8tracks	B-Application
partnered	O
with	O
Feature.fm	O
to	O
offer	O
artists	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
play	O
their	O
songs	O
as	O
"	O
sponsored	O
tracks	O
"	O
to	O
people	O
who	O
are	O
listening	O
to	O
playlists	O
of	O
the	O
artist	O
's	O
style	O
of	O
music	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
8tracks	B-Application
paid	O
royalties	O
to	O
SoundExchange	O
,	O
and	O
ultimately	O
their	O
push	O
for	O
back	O
royalties	O
led	O
to	O
the	O
closure	O
in	O
2019	O
.	O
</s>
