uPlayMe Offers Social Music with a Twist

There are enough social music networks on the internet now, that anyone should be able to find one that best fits their interests and needs. uPlayMe is one example of such a network, but this one has a few differences that may give it an edge over the others that simply appear to be last.fm clones. uPlayMe even attempts to stand out with a funny commercial that I am not quite sure gets the point across about how the service works, but I will help you with that.

The twist with uPlayMe starts right after the simple registration process on their website. Unlike many other competitors, you are not forced to stay on a cluttered website to find entertainment and people. Once you become a registered user, you are directed through a download process that installs the uPlayMe social music networking software on your computer. Once installed, you just load up your favorite media player (currently compatible with iTunes, Windows Media Player and WinAmp only) and start listening to your music as you normally would. As you play your music (and videos), uPlayMe finds people who are listening to and watching the same. It works based only on the things you have recently played, just in case your whole library contains more than your current interests.

Also unlike its rivals, uPlayMe does not focus on finding new media for you, but rather on finding new people. It simply matches you with other users who are playing the same things as you. uPlayMe will let you know when it finds a match, and you can decide if you want to communicate with or ignore the match. If you decide to communicate, you can chat and even visit their profiles on other sites like MySpace or YouTube. It is possible to discover new entertainment, but only through the matches that the software finds for you.

The support FAQ at uPlayMe answered the questions I had about the compatibility of the downloaded software. Reading an article by Jaanus Kase, I discovered that the service had no support for Mac users as of last November, a month after the services launch. Apple owners are still out of luck as of now (June 30, 2007) with the support page still stating that a Mac version is in the works to be released soon. It is currently only compatible PC's running Windows 2000 or Windows XP.

If you are a Windows user however, this social music community may be the one for you, as it has gained thousands of users since its October 2006 launch, and is one of the easiest to implement into your current way of enjoying entertainment. As additional features are released and compatibility spreads to Macs and other media players, this emerging network will continue to grow. It's one to watch if you are more interested in finding new friends through entertainment, rather than finding entertainment through new friends.

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