DEBATE: Is Turntable.fm the real deal for bands after all?

When Turntable.fm launched last year, it caused a divide in the online music community mostly because some thought it was really cool, while the other half thought: “why would I want to sit through some random person’s terrible playlists?” Months after the May 2011 launch, most pundits were already hailing the site as a short-lived fad, and yet it continues to grow and stay in place and strong. It’s even become a common marketing tool for entertainment agencies who want to preview an artist’s upcoming LP, so clearly Turntable.fm has some stickiness to it. And then a musician friend shared an interesting story…

We won’t name our friend, but he plays in two notable garage rock bands that have done some serious touring in the east coast, and he joined Turntable.fm on a whim only a couple days ago. All he did was slip into the genre rooms that pertain to his two bands, casually sharing his bands’ music with links to their respective Bandcamp pages. The beauty of Turntable.fm is that it’s completely democratic and you will get booted for poor music taste, and while that’s true, the musician did the smart thing to share some other music not belonging to him. In the end after only 2 days, his Bandcamp pages record over 137 plays and 10 paid downloads.

Before learning this, we weren’t big believers in Turntable.fm, but this tale has us re-thinking the site. What say you?