Top 40. Jazz. Alternative. To stream music online, you have several choices. Whether you want radio or individual songs, some of the more popular sites are Radio Paradise, Pandora, Last.fm, iLike and imeem—and a relatively new site.

Called Blip, that relative newcomer is more than worth a listen.

It's similar in approach to Twitter. Not coincidently, many people use both. Create a username, search for a song, and choose from the results. Search algorithms respond not just with your first choice but also cool alternatives, including variations of the song on YouTube. Quickly sample new music from other users around the world, too.

If you've had issues on other sites getting even a simple playlist going, Blip is definitely easier to use. Its biggest drawback is that the site lacks a decent direct-messaging feature, but the number of songs it accesses more than makes up for that shortcoming.