epiTUNES recently launched their next generation Web 2.0 music discovery site. epiTUNES provides multiple tools for artists and labels to promote their music and for fans to discover new music and meet new friends. Employing a variety of Web 2.0 features, including podcasts, blogs, RSS feeds, custom playlists, mashups, tagging, user generated reviews and rankings, epiTUNES provides multiple pathways for music fans to discover new music and stay up to date with their favorite artists.

Artists and fans can quickly drag and drop AJAX driven plug-ins to easily create custom web pages without any HTML programming knowledge. Artists can upload an unlimited number of songs to their epiTUNES profile. The artist controls the access rights to each song ranging from just streaming songs on the site all the way up to unlimited downloads. Artists can also grant permission for members to add songs to their custom playlists and make their songs eligible for inclusion on Best of the Week epiCASTs.

Members can create profiles including their musical preferences. In addition to using typical social networking functions, such as blogs, personal calendars, and picture uploads, epiTUNES members can create custom songs playlists, download free MP3s, write music reviews, tag and vote on other member reviews, preview music for upcoming local shows, post shows they are attending and search for others attending local shows.

“Basically I came up with the idea for the site because I was tired of going to see shows of bands I didn’t know anything about or missing out on shows I would have loved to have seen because I had no idea at the time what the band sounded like. I wanted a site that I could easily find shows locally and listen to the band beforehand to see if they were worth seeing,” says co-founder Toren Ajk.

“We wanted to create a platform in which the average music fan can easily search for a venue, find out who’s playing there, and then actually listen to what the band sounds like. We’ve put all the tools for finding music that’s playing in any city right in front of you,” says co-founder Steve Riskin.

Toren added, “When I talk to people they say the three biggest reasons they don’t go to more shows is the lack of time, money, and the unknown factor as far as what the band sounds like. We can’t help you with the first two but epiTUNES is all about helping you solve the third issue. Of course epiTUNES has evolved to be much more than just a way to discover local shows. We’ve put together a platform to address the needs of both fans and artists, be they local acts or major label multi-platinum sellers.”

On epiTUNES users can easily search for music by venue, events, artists and genre. They can also listen to online radio stations, get a quick snapshot of what’s popular on the charts, download podcasts, and meet others with similar tastes. The company is still adding new features and improvements to the site while staying true to their motto, “It’s all about the music!!”