07.21.2010
We're moving!
If all goes well, you shouldn't notice a thing. But just in case, here's what's going on. We are currently in the process of moving our servers to a new datacenter. While we are doing our best to minimize any interruptions to you, the listeners, some services such as our forums may be temporarily unavailable until our move is complete. The end result will be a more robust infrastructure that will allow us to continue growing and keep the beats flowing.
05.05.2010
Download our playlists!
We've launched a new feature on our homepage - download links for music in our playlist! Just click the little Amazon/iTunes icons next to each item in the song history for both of our channels.
The links are more than just a blind search... each link was manually created to ensure that you get the correct song, the right version or remix, and when possible even the same album we found the track on. Music downloaded from Amazon tends cost less than iTunes, and comes in a high-quality, unrestricted MP3 format that should work on any digital music player.
So far, we've created Amazon download links for about 75% of our Nujazz playlist and more than 50% of our hiphop playlist, with more songs being linked every day. For those of you who prefer iTunes or just appreciate having another option, we also have most of our playlists linked to the iTunes music store as well.
It's a great way to support both the artists and Smoothbeats.com, while building up your music library with the best in hiphop and nujazz.
04.20.2010
RIP Guru.
Much respect to a man who contributed so much to the world of hiphop.
03.31.2010
Tune in this Fri from 2-4pm EST as Jesse De La Pena presents Ladies of Soul: Mary J Blige vs. Chaka Khan.
Don't miss this classic R&B showdown!
02.10.2010
SADE tribute set today on De La Pena Live! (Special early show 2-4pm EST) http://goo.gl/qn89
Definitely not one to be missed!
02.01.2010
Did you know? You can click the links in the song history at Smoothbeats.com to find these and other tracks in the iTunes music store!
Roughly 70% of our hiphop playlist and more than 80% of the nujazz playlist links directly to downloads in the iTunes store. Grab just one track, or entire albums!
01.29.2010
All relays back up and running.
Tune in!
01.29.2010
Some of our lower bitrate relays are activing up this morning. We are aware of the issue and are working to resolve the problem.
This applies to our 64k hiphop relay and both 64k and 32k nujazz relays. We apologize for the downtime, but plan to have them back online shortly...
01.20.2010
Another giant playlist update for the Nujazz channel - more than 70 new tracks!
This latest update brings our total playlist time to just over 65 hours. That's almost 3 days without a repeat! As usual, much respect to DrMadness, our Nujazz playlist manager, for his efforts.
01.18.2010
In honor of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., we will be broadcasting his famous "I have a dream" speech today at 11am and again at 3pm.
Tune in and pay tribute to a true American hero.
01.08.2010
Another new listener peak on the Nujazz channel today! More playlist updates coming this weekend. Tune in: http://smoothbeats.com/nujazz.pls
Our newest channel has grown in leaps and bounds over the past year, which has only improved since the Nujazz channel got added to iTunes' internet radio directory. Thanks for tuning in, and spread the word!
11.30.2009
Happy 10th birthday, Smoothbeats.com!
Holy cow, can you believe we've been at this for 10 years? From the pioneering days of internet radio, to a household name that is synonymous with hiphop, it's been a great journey!
This past year, we launched our Nujazz channel, which has already picked up a solid listener base and is still gaining momentum. We've added a handful of live shows and are always looking for new on-air talent to round out our lineup. We've increased our streaming capabilites by adding more bitrate options for both of our channels, and are currently working on our first foray into the world of mobile computing with our optimized streams and mobile apps for your favorite mobile devices!
Of course, no birthday celebration would be complete without presents! For us. It's no secret that the economy is in the dumps and everyone is hustling extra hard to make ends meet. Smoothbeats.com is no exception. So dig deep and give a dollar. Give $10. Give $10k in large unmarked bills if you're feeling generous. But for every donation of $5 or more, we'll send out some Smoothbeats stickers for you to do what you please with them. Put them on your car. Put them on your laptop. Heck, stick them on your sister's forehead while she's sleeping. She'll think it's funny, we promise (no we don't).
Thanks for a great decade, and here's to big things in the future!
11.23.2009
Got a Blackberry? There's an app for that!
Visit http://smoothbeats.com/bb/ on your Blackberry device and install direct tune-in links for both our hiphop and nujazz streams! Now you can listen to Smoothbeats anywhere on your mobile device with a single click. You will be instantly connected to our 64kbps streams, which have been optimized for playback over 3g networks.
11.21.2009
Show some love for our Nujazz playlist manager, DrMadness!
This is the man that makes it all happen, handpicking just the right tracks for that chill vibe known as Smoothbeats.com Nujazz. With 40 new songs added this week, our Nujazz playlist is now over 54 hours long without repeats, thanks to his efforts. Much love!
11.18.2009
All channels now streaming at 3 different bitrates, so you can tune in on any device, no matter what your connection!
We still offer our channels at high quality 128kbps, of course. However we've now added a 32kbps feed for our Nujazz channel, by request, and have also added 64kbps feeds to better support mobile/3g devices that might have trouble maintaining a solid connection to our higher bitrate streams for extended periods. Enjoy, and let us know what you think in the forums!
11.13.2009
Give a warm welcome to DJ Lexone, the newest addition to our DJ lineup! You can catch his weekly live show Tuesdays 7-9pm.
Tune in and catch DJ Lexone spinning a mix of blazing hiphop and hot dancehall tunes live from Montreal, Canada.
11.11.2009
Hoodhype live show has moved to Thursdays, 7-9pm EST, starting tomorrow!
Tune in and catch the live show, or visit http://hoodhype.com to download the podcast later in the week.
10.08.2009
New listener record on our Nujazz stream! Check it out for yourself at http://smoothbeats.com/nujazz.pls
41 Listeners might not seem like a lot, but consider it took more than 2 years before we saw those numbers on the hiphop channel. Thanks for tuning in, and keep it locked!
09.09.2009
Check out Cafe Magazine's interview with Smoothbeats' own Jesse De La Pena, Beyond the Beats! http://tinyurl.com/delacafe
A great piece on a talented DJ and musician... Congrats on the feature, Jesse!
09.05.2009
DJ YZ Presents the 2nd Annual OFE Block Party, Sunday September 6 from 7-11pm EST!
Tune in this Sunday at 7pm as DJ YZ and the TurntableTendencies.com crew broadcast live from the 2nd Annual OFE Block Party, from Olde Forge NJ. Grab a cold one, tune in, and enjoy the tunes!
06.26.2009
Special Michael Jackson tribute show today 2-4pm EST.
Join us today as Chicago's Jesse De La Pena helps us pay tribute to a legend. Click here to tune in.
06.25.2009
R.I.P. Michael.
Ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa.
04.17.2009
If you live near Philly, check out http://DontEatThere.org!
Restaurant inspections for the Philadelphia area with links to reviews, menus, maps and more! Find out if your favorite places are safe...
04.06.2009
Dj Yz and TurntableTendencies.com present the "Live Beat Down", every Friday from 8-10pm!
We would like to welcome our newest DJ to the Smoothbeats live show lineup, Dj Yz from TurntableTendencies.com! Tune in for this great new addition to our crew, live from DC.
03.25.2009
New all-time listener peak on the Nujazz channel! Just thought we'd share...
35 concurrent listeners might not seem like that many at first, but consider that it took over a year to hit this number on our hiphop channel back in 2000. Not too shabby for just under 3 months!
03.21.2009
New music from Sylk 130, Inverse Cinematics, Wide Open Mind Project, and more thanks to your Nujazz playlist manager, DrMadness!
Another huge playlist update with more than 3 hours of new music for your enjoyment. Tell your friends!
03.14.2009
Live show lineup updated, join our facebook group!
We've updated our live show schedule, which you can find here. Also, if you're on Facebook be sure to join our Facebook group!
01.19.2009
In honor of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., we will be broadcasting his famous "I have a dream" speech today at 11am and again at 3pm.
Tune in and pay tribute to a true American hero.
01.01.2009
Happy new year!
Another year has come to a close, and we thought we would start off 2009 right with the official launch of our Nu Jazz channel and a new site design! A chill groove for more refined tastes... check it out!