Libraries of Art: three sources of music, photography and video

I spend a lot of time online browsing different art sites. They each present their contents in different ways, and I think I generally spend more time on pre- curated sites. These are the ones who pick out content from different places on the net, and present them in context to one another. Sometimes though, I like to wanter just a little bit off the beaten path. These are the sites that offer you a chance to discover something new, and to browse through enormous libraries of online content. Here are my best visits in each category:

Music: Grooveshark
        Grooveshark is an online free music library. Accessible from anywhere, and every song is shareable. Lately they have included one, and only one commercial, just before you start listening to your songs. After that you won't find intrusive commercials. The layout is very sensible and music is easily shareable.




Photography: Flickr

     Flickr is a site for the sharing and exploration of photography. To get to the good stuff fast I hit the "interesting in the last 7 days" button, and the pick out a few photographs. My usual study technique is to put an image from flickr on full screen, and have some soothing jazz playing from grooveshark. That way whenever I zone out, I can find my way back following the music. Looking at hundreds of photographs will make you a better photographer.




Movies: Vimeo

       Vimeo is the site for videos. Vimeo is a completely different experience from youtube. More focused on short video of some artistic merit, vimeo is filled with short documentaries, short movies by art students, music videos and more.

I especially recommend sifting through some of the channels. For a quickly - go straight to the editors pick section, which is always a source of delight.



I'm sure there are corresponding sites for other media - such as short stories and flash- games, but I'm not a consumer of that, so I wouldn't really know much about it. If you love to read long- form articles that has more the form of investigative journalism I recommend the two sites of longform and The Browser.

To each of these sites there is a participatory component. You are perfectly free to upload music, photos and videos. But normally I just browse. I'm sure they all have community sections and all that, but the I find the simplest and most effortless interaction is often the best.

Also a nice feature of all sites is that they have very powerful sharing features. In addition to the normal facebook and twitter integration parts, you can also auto generate html for your blog or web- site.