Frequently Asked Questions
Recommendations
Getting Started
- What is a Groove?
- What is a Playlist?
- Free Tracks vs YouTube clips??
- "But this video stinks!"?
- Are Free Tracks Legal?
- Why do I get the same tracks recommended in different Grooves?
Grooves
making, saving deleting, voting...
- How does a Groove work?
- What is Voting?
- How do I save a Groove?
- Where are my Grooves?
- How do I delete a Groove?
- Can I edit a Groove?
- What's a FlyFi Favorite?
Search
Other Stuff
- What happens when I enter an artist with the same name as another artist?
- Why doesn't the artist I entered appear in my recommendations?
Recommendations
When you tell FlyFi about some music you like, (one artist, or a list of them) the resulting list of tracks represent a small universe of music that will apeal to you, from several genres. We call it a Groove. It's not narrow like a station, it's Groovy... man.
When you find music on FlyFi you can add it to a playlist. There's no limit to how many playlists you can make, no limit to how many of our tracks you can collect. At 9,700 tracks and growing, FlyFi has one of the largest free, no-strings-attached music libraries.
Q:Free Tracks vs YouTube clips??
Free tracks are actually free. Really, really free (as in beer). You can listen to them as often as you like. You can download them and play them on any device you like (even an iPod). Now ain't that nice? But there's more music to discover than just our free catalog. So we also provide tracks that are streemed into our player from YouTube. These are just like other tracks but with the added feature of moving pictures instead of some static album art. The're free to sample, and if you like them, we try to make it easy to get the tracks by providing links to your favorite music stores.
"But this video stinks!"
The YouTube universe is a real wild west. There's no telling what kind of video is getting uploaded using the title of a certain song. We do our best to filter out the videos of that kid in the basement playing your favorite tunes on his ukulele, but some weird stuff inevitably gets through.
We've provided a forward and back button so you can try a different video for your track. When you find a good one, Vote it up (Thumb-up icon) and it will become the default video for that track. Simple? No. Cool? Yes.
They sure are. No catch, no strings attached. We provide tracks in the MP3 format, compatible with most players, including iPods.
Q: Why do I get the same tracks recommended in different Grooves?
Each new Groove is autonomous. If some of your Grooves have similar characteristics they'll have some tracks in common.
Grooves
making, saving deleting, voting...
A Groove is the nebulous world of music that surrounds a taste profile. Your taste profile is based on the Artists you've input, and the tracks you've voted on. If you've downloaded the FlyFi iTunes Helper you'll get a Groove based on your whole iTunes Library. The more information we have to base a Groove, the better the music fits your taste.
Grooves aren't branches on the musical tree. If you tell FlyFi you like Miles Davis, Interpol and Nora Jones, you'll get tracks that appeal to people who like all three of those artists. Other services will pick tracks from three branches of the musical tree, but FlyFi gives you a better mix of relevant stuff in between.
Voting a track up or down (use the thumb up or thumb down buttons) helps FlyFi refine the quality of the recommendations for that Groove. After you've voted up and down several tracks, FlyFi uses that information, along with the original Artists you may have entered to recalculate a new tracks you'll like, to automatically add to the bottom of your Groove.
If you're a member and you're signed in, all Grooves you create will be automatically saved. The next time you sign in, your Grooves will be available in the Cloud Menu. You can access your music from any computer as long as you sign in.
If you aren't a member you're an anonymous user and your Grooves are still saved. You can only access them by using the same computer and the same browser. If your cookies get deleted (see the preferences/internet-options of your browser) your Grooves will be lost. If you've created some Grooves as an anonymous user, all you have to do is sign in, or make a new account and the Grooves are automatically added to your account. Now your Grooves are safe, and can be used on any computer.
All Grooves you create while you're not signed in will automatically be saved when you sign in. You can easily sign in or signup while you listen.
If you were signed in the last time you used FlyFi, your Grooves are saved. If you weren't signed in, they were saved, but only for that computer/browser. If you can't find your Grooves, try the following things
- Were you signed in when you created your Grooves?
- Are you signed in now?
-
If you don't have a membership, or if you weren't signed in when you created your Grooves, are you using the same browser (Internet Explorer, FireFox, Safari etc.) on the same computer?
If so, is it possible the cookies for that browser were cleared/deleted?
- If none of this is helpful, please contact FlyFi here.
Custom Grooves can be deleted from the profile page. Sign in and click the user-name tab at the top of your player. Notice the list of playlists on your profilepage. There is a delete button next to each Groove name.
Yes. You can add new artists to the Groove, and you can rename iot at any time by clicking the edit button next to the Groove name in the left bar of your player.
FlyFi has several prefab collections of music that fit into certain genres (Jazz Fest, Classically Inclined, Rock etc.) Each FlyFi Favorite is a ready-made Groove.
Search
If you're looking for a specific artist, track or album, you can enter it into the search form of the search page. We return the closest matches based on what we have in our database. Those results link to an AArtist page, which is the place where all the tracks and albums for an artist live. If we know about it, it's on the artist page.
Q: Why does a band show more than once in a search?
We get our Artist data from a meta field in the MP3 files of our FlyFi member's music linraries. Bob Dylan is obviously and artist, as is The Greatful Dead. "Bob Dylan and the Greatful Dead" as they appeared together on a live album, is considered another artist.
as you search for music, you'll notice a list of music styles down the left side of he page. These are the genres where we've collected thousands of free tracks. If you want to browse through a genre for free music, you can click a genre link.
Other Stuff
Q: What Happens when I enter an artist with the same name as another artist?
If you enter ambiguous artist name, FlyFi will use the name of the artist that most closely matched the name you entered. If you aren't sure of the name or spelling of an artist, look it up first (try Google. Google often gives you the right spelling, even on misspelled names and obscure names). There are a lot of odd names in the music world. Even a slight misspelling of an artist's name could match another artist you didn't intend.
Q: Why doesn't the artist I entered always appear in my recommendations?
By default, FlyFi tries to show a track by each of the artists you entered, followed by 10 recommended free tracks. If your artists isn't available (it's very obscure, or misspelled) it won't appear in the recommendations.
- How does FlyFi make music recommendations?
- How does FlyFi know what music I like?
- What kind of music will I find on FlyFi?
- Why should I rate/vote on a track?
- Where does the free music come from?
- Why do you refer to "Grooves"?
- Why is FlyFi a better way to find new music?
- Is FlyFi really free?
- How does FlyFi make money?
- How do I sample tracks that aren't Free?
- What does the music cost?
- How can artists, including undiscovered artists, benefit from FlyFi?
- Why is FlyFi a different way of marketing music?
Q: How does FlyFi make music recommendations?
FlyFi uses a unique methodology to analyze music from user collections and clusters to deliver the best recommendations to music lovers. Building on information from its desktop application launched in late 2006, FlyFi analyzes the music and play patterns in music libraries to determine what mix of music people really like. Rather than analyzing components of tracks or linking similar artists together, FlyFi uses the music taste of thousands of clusters of real people to make recommendations. The result is recommendations that are less predictable and more relevant. With more than 16 million tracks in user libraries, the music discovered with FlyFi is targeted and full of delightful surprises – not just more of the same.
Q: How does FlyFi know what music I like?
FlyFi builds knowledge of each new user's musical taste based on their selections, plays and rankings. Soon power users will be able to let FlyFi look at their music library to get the most precise recommendations right out of the gate.
Q: What kind of music will I find on FlyFi?
There is no limit. Our inventory is based on what is in our members' collections - currently more than 16 million unique tracks. We don't have a pre-arranged grouping of artists or editors that select and analyze the music.
Q: Why should I rate tracks "good" or "bad"?
This helps FlyFi start to build your music profile and understand your unique taste. Also, when you rate a track as "good" it automatically gets placed in your saved playlist.
Q: Where does the free music come from?
FlyFi's Free Music catalog currently contains nearly 10,000 tracks sourced from 1,000 labels. The tracks are professionally produced and DRM-free from both established and up-and-coming artists.
Free music is also targeted to users based on their taste. Users can play their recommendations radio-style, save or download the tracks they like, and send them to friends.
Q: Why do you refer to "Grooves"?
FlyFi wants to make your music discovery more than just listening to a track that is new to you. The Groove concept includes finding out more about the artist, viewing other members who also like this music (and listening to other music they like) and learning about related-content such as new music releases, review and articles.
Our Groove concept is possible because of FlyFi's proprietary taste-based content server that precisely delivers music and related content to individuals based on their music taste. Users get content they are interested in such as articles and new music releases from artists they have or are apt to like, and the advertiser gets to reach their audience directly and efficiently. FlyFi has signed agreements with more than a dozen leading music content providers including Paste, Popmatters and Blueswax to serve their content to FlyFi users based on musical taste.
Q: Why is FlyFi a better way to find new music?
FlyFi filters the vast supply of music and presents only that which you are likely to enjoy. Just listen to the music you like and FlyFi does the rest. We believe that the music is about the people that listen to it, not the science of the song.
Yes. FlyFi is totally free to members. You may find that FlyFi recommends music that you want to buy from iTunes, Amazon, Napster or other sites, but there is no fee for using FlyFi. FlyFi also has a collection of Free Music from established and emerging artists.
FlyFi has developed a taste-targeted content, music and ad server that precisely delivers content to individuals based on music taste. FlyFi also gets a commission on music that you buy when you click through from FlyFi on your desktop to an online music store such as Amazon or iTunes.
Q: How do I sample tracks that aren't Free?
Free tracks are shown with a little FlyFi logo next to them. Tracks with aren't part of our free catalog are usually linked to a YouTube video. These tracks show a little TV icon next to them.
Clicking through FlyFi to a music seller's site to buy a track or a CD is the same as going there directly. The music will cost the same as it normally does at that site.
Q: How can artists, including undiscovered artists, benefit from FlyFi?
As a result of FlyFi's ability to match artist with audience, record labels' and artists' music is presented directly to those consumers who will love it. As the FlyFi community continues to grow, the recommendations will get more precise and it will provide a very efficient way for artists to find their audience. More information can be found at the "Artists and Labels" link at the bottom of the home page.
Q: Why is FlyFi a different way of marketing music?
FlyFi introduces music precisely to those listeners who are most likely to enjoy it. If they enjoy it and play it the music will begin the process of spreading through the FlyFi community. Music is spread directly from user to user with similar taste profiles, rather than by commercial tastemakers.
iTunes Helper
- What Is It?
- How Does It Work ?
- Requirements
- Am I Sharing My iTunes Music?
- What Happens After I Download It?
- Privacy
- Why Should I Keep My Music Public?
- How Do I Fine Tune My iTunes Library at FlyFi to Better Represent Me?
iTunes Helper
The FlyFi iTunes Helper is an application that runs on your computer to help FlyFi get to know your musical taste by looking at your iTunes library. It runs continuously so FlyFi can keep up to date on your music.
The FlyFi iTunes Helper sends the contents of your iTunes data file (a behind the scenes part of your iTunes library) to FlyFi server to be analyzed. By looking at your iTunes music, which is one of the best reflections of your musical tastes, FlyFi can make better new music suggestion. FlyFi can also use this information to better serve other members.
Platform: Mac (Intel or PPC processor) OS X 10.4 or higher. Windows XP or greater.
You must have an internet connection.
Q: Am I Sharing My iTunes Music?
Not really. Your music stays on your computer. FlyFi only uses the names of you music files. It's a faster, safer and legal way to extend your iTunes
Q: What Happens After I Download It?
After comparing your music to that of your matching listeners, FlyFi makes smart recommendations of music you'll like that you don't already have.
Once you've installed the FlyFi iTunes Helper, everything else happens automatically, and can be accessed online at FlyFi.com. To hear your new music, go to FlyFi.com and sign in using the same user name you entered into the FlyFi iTunes Helper Login app.
By default, your iTunes Music is visible to the FlyFi community. This makes it easy for people to find new music, and everyone benefits from everyone else's musical knowledge.
But, if you just don't want people to know what you're into ("Sing Along with Barney", for instance), you can hide your iTunes music from everybody, or choose individual tracks, Artists, and Playlists to hide.
Q: Why Should I Keep My Music Public?
One word: Karma.
Before you start hiding your music, consider if you have sufficient anonymity with your user name. If People see that the user named "MountainMamma142" loves Barney, nobody will know it's you (unless you name really is MountainMamma). By keeping your iTunes music visible, everybody wins.
If you want to make a new FlyFi account, with a different name, you can do so at http://www.flyfi.com/auth/signup/.
You will also have to launch the FlyFi iTunes Helper Login app again, and login using your new user name and password.
Q: How Do I Fine Tune My iTunes Library at FlyFi to Better Represent Me?
You can allow FlyFi to recommend music by artists you already have, or choose to filter them out. You can also deselect specific artists in your iTunes library that don't represent your tastes. These fine tuning functions are found on your profile page. Login at FlyFi.com. Click your name in the blue tab at the top of the player, or go directly here:
http://flyfi.com/people/me/
10 Things that Rock About FlyFi
- Over 11,000 MP3s, free to play, download, keep.
- We'll show you your iTunes library, in video form.
- "Deeper Discovery" means music you won't find at other services.
- We make it easy to share.
- Connect with people who share your taste.
- Word of mouth music made easy.
- We post new tracks every day, and they're free.
- FlyFi delivers (and tweets).
- We deliver diverse music recommendations based on your iTunes library.
- We have a Kitten.
1. Over 11,000 MP3s, free to play, download, keep.
These are legal tracks, free to keep. Play them in any device (even an iPod). No strings attached.
2. We'll show you your iTunes library, in video form.
When you download the FlyFi iTunes Helper, not only do we compute new music recommendations based on you taste, we let you play videos for all the tracks in your iTunes library (well, all the videos we can find, that it).
3. "Deeper Discovery" means music you won't find at other services.
We've build our recommendation engine and interface to find music, not just based on "sound-like" computations, but also based on the diverse taste of our members. So you get good music that jumps genres.
Any track you find at FlyFi, any playlist you make or discover can be mailed to a friend. You can post you music on you blog, and you can put our music links into Twitter and FaceBook posts. So spread the love.
5. Connect with people who share your taste.
As you listen to music at FlyFi, and when you download the FlyFi iTunes Helper, we match you with people who share your musical tastes. You can see who's listening to FLyFi now, and you can check out your matching members' music.
6. Word of mouth music made easy.
We've tuned our recommendation technology to mimic the same process that takes place when you hang around with people you like and swap music. FlyFi does it faster, and we put you in a room with hundreds of people who match your style. So they're more music to discover.
7. We post new tracks every day, and they're free.
Check our Daily Blog where we post new MP3s every day. These are newly released tracks that have been vetted by our music editors.
8. FlyFi delivers (and tweets).
You can get our Blog and daily new releases delivered to your inbox every Friday. You can also follow us on Twitter. We tweet our new release tracks every.
9. We deliver diverse music recommendations based on your iTunes library.
Oh, did we mention? The FlyFi iTunes Helper can look at you iTunes library and base an huge playlist of new music recommendations on your musical tastes. It's the best way to tap into the diversity of your musical interests so your music doesn't get stale or stuck in a single genre.
Oh, that's just our way of letting you turn off the annoying slideshow on our home page. Because everybody loves kittens. Right?
