We’ve been having a lot of fun with the site for the past few weeks, with a header paying tribute to Nine Inch Nails, and our earlier Halloween colors, but we’ve also been making some design changes, which you can now see!
The update now live on the site streamlines the site player experience, makes much better use of the space on the site, and will soon make all the different site sections of the site clearer and more accessible. Oh yeah, the site is also wider – we noticed everyone bought those wonderful wide-screen displays, we are now ready to make great use of them.
This is a beta of the update, so stay tuned for more, and give us all the feedback you’ve got.
What do you think?
another update, another slap in the face of an “only remixes” option under “popular.”
November 1, 2011 3:50 am
Don’t like the sort button being at the left.
Don’t like the play bar up at the top.
If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.
November 1, 2011 9:36 am
Agreed: The sort button being on the left makes ZERO sense. Move it back please! 🙂
Can you add some sort of percentage indicator in the volume slider?
Release an Android app — or better yet: buy the app that’s on the Android market already. (it rocks!!!)
November 1, 2011 10:36 am
yeah, this isn’t gonna work..used to use it on my ipad, now I can barely use it. switch it back.
November 1, 2011 10:56 am
I really like the black background from the Halloween edition, in fact I’m really disappointed that it wasn’t permanent. Can you add the black (an inverse color option?) as a button choice or something? It’s a lot easier on the eyes.
Don’t like the play bar at the top. Please change it back to the bottom.
November 1, 2011 11:42 am
Also, why doesn’t the “amount of people who favorited this song” number show up next to the hearts anymore?
I liked that.
November 1, 2011 11:46 am
I appreciate the improvement efforts!
My suggestions:
1. a pop-out player option would be really convenient,
2. It would be really nice if we could have a social aspect like a comments bar for songs and/or a way to communicate to your followers and people you follow.
3. i would like to see the music bar back on the bottom of the page
4. different filter options to hone in on specific music: filter by artist, genre, number of “likes”, remix only, loved in the past “x” days: I would be really interested to see what has gotten the most hits on the site of all time along with different time frames to see the general trend of musical preferences of hypem users.
that’s it for now!
Thanks!
November 1, 2011 12:22 pm
I totally like the colors and the layout!.. tbh the Halloween colors and the tribute header looked somewhat awful :D. Another thing is that i would really like to make playlists. Maybe I just didnt find that feature.. is there a way already?
November 1, 2011 2:17 pm
I don’t agree with the people that don’t like the play bar on top. On windows 7, which I use as primary OS, important controls at the bottom of a website are not handy. When you move your mouse to them you’ll quickly hover one of the task bar icons, causing a window preview hovering the controls. Of course, this is not a problem if you’re using another OS or you’ve placed the task bar at the left or right, but still.
November 1, 2011 2:40 pm
I like the player on the top also! It doesn’t get in the way of my macbook dock popping up over it. Is there an option yet to play no remixes on lists besides the popular one? It seems like there should be, but I haven’t found it. Also I don’t really get the ‘shuffle’ thing next to the search bar…shuffle ≠ random.
November 1, 2011 2:46 pm
You’ve got some stylesheet issues – Blog Directory is one that jumps out; basic stuff like your h1 and directory div making love to one another.
I think the playbar at the top is intrusive and a terrible design decision, so I hope it’s supported by data; it better be your highest used feature (really? track forward, pause, play is used these days on web music tools?) because it is a ‘surprise’ UI move that’s fine if it’s something you teach users about and then it becomes something they know about and CAN use. Pop out features of HTML5 and the new web aren’t there to throw your stuff in people’s faces; they’re there to use screen real estate wisely. Putting that bar there means I frankly CAN NOT avoid it; it’s poped out in my face six times in the thirty seconds I’ve been here. I don’t want it, never needed it, and never will.
I wouldn’t rant on one particular feature but I studied UX/UI at Stanford and it gets under my skin, especially on a site I use literally every single day, all day. Obviously my data didn’t trump yours, but if that’s there on a hunch…hunch design decisions that envelope your main navigation features are a really bad idea.
I really do love what you’ve done with the site’s UI lately, so don’t take that the wrong way:)
All the best…and I wouldn’t mind if you guys re-archived my blog:)
D
November 1, 2011 3:36 pm
Can you make it so that the search feature follows along with the new audio player at the top of the screen? Not really liking having to scroll back to the very top of the page to type in a new search query. Thanks guys. Love the site.
November 1, 2011 4:21 pm
Nooooo you TechCrunched the site! Shame! Shame! Persistent headers are the PLAGUE of the “new” web design direction.
You could of at LEAST put a little “Look up” banner at the bottom of the page so I know where to pause the music when the phone rings.
November 1, 2011 7:37 pm
Also. On the “Popular” page the text “This song is playing from a previous page” is overlapping the title beneath it in Chrome.
November 1, 2011 8:00 pm
Why did you go and change a good thing?:(
I keep going to the bottom to change the song, but nope. Also, I hate the new username area. Where you find your songs. It doesn’t scale. When you make your browser smaller.
It’s a sad….sad….sad…day
November 1, 2011 9:37 pm
The search blogs button is missing.
November 1, 2011 9:46 pm
I agree with Aguarus, the Halloween colors were fun, and the dark background was easier on the eyes. An option for different styles of hypem would be awesome.
Keep up the good work!
November 1, 2011 11:05 pm
Used to be able to access all my songs from my iPad and iPhone. Airplay was also working perfectly to stream the music. Was also able to plug in my phone at a party share my new discoveries with my friends. Even streaming theses songs in my car was amazing.
For me, Hype Machine is an online library of awesome music I love, accessible from anywhere. Not being able to access all my songs from a mobile device is completely pointless. The app is not necessarily better, it’s also not possible to access our loved songs.
Very disappointed, mobile is the way to go and all efforts should be put towards theses devices.
Thanks.
November 2, 2011 9:08 am
I like the bar at the top. I like the makeover. It doesnt matter if the sort thing is on the left.. it takes no extra time to navigate to it. I think it would be ill to leave comments under certain songs. I love comments.. im sure im not the only one =).
November 2, 2011 11:03 am
Simon Diamond took the words right out of my mouth. A real, beneficial update might be the ability to search through or sort my fav’d songs. That list is the most essential part of the sight, and removing it from mobile devices is a huge slap in the face. I hope it wasn’t for legal reasons.
November 2, 2011 2:26 pm
the music bar worked alot better at the bottom + what happened to the other controls you used to have on it? like read full post?
November 2, 2011 5:43 pm
We’ll have the “read post” control back, it shouldn’t be hidden, that’s a bug. The other display bugs are being fixed (including some on iPhone/iPad in Mobile Safari), thanks for reporting them .
Simon, we are not really here to be a library of music, sorry to disappoint. We want you to keep finding new stuff, so this is why that feature is de-prioritized. Apps like Spotify or Rdio are much better for building libraries of stuff.
November 2, 2011 5:54 pm
Nice update, good to see you guys still trying to improve an already great site. Still needs work, though (although I know this is just a beta). A few things:
1: It would be nice to have the option to choose whether to have the player at the top or the bottom; I don’t mind it at the top, whether I prefer it to where it used to be remains to be seen.
2: The content on the right hand side seems to be too high, and on the front page it overlaps with the banner saying how many people are using hypem, although that may have something to do with ad block, in which case that’s my problem.
3: Tiny suggestion – it would be nice if the ‘heart’ part of the logo at the top was still red and white 🙂
November 2, 2011 6:15 pm
There may be more color back in the header, stay tuned 😛
But if Adblock breaks the site we will not fix it, sorry. Don’t use adblock, we need to eat, yknow
November 2, 2011 6:28 pm
Bigelibigbig ups fellas! Getter better and better into eternity. Keeeep it up.
Blessness
November 2, 2011 7:49 pm
Takes getting used to. The various tab options are more spaced out and requires more effort to navigate. Perhaps I’m just not used to focusing my attention toward the top of the screen. Also, I miss the big fat play/pause button. I usually welcome hypem changes, but this one’s a bit iffy for me when it affects function, but at least the content is still the same.
November 3, 2011 12:12 am
love the new layout. all html5…good choice. any chance theres a smartphone / tablet viewport update comin down the road? either way keep it up.
you would.
November 3, 2011 9:31 am
Love the buttons on the top, so much easier when browsing! thank you 🙂
November 3, 2011 11:37 am
Nice work, I really like what you’ve done with the place.
November 3, 2011 2:33 pm
I like the controls on the top, in Chrome when you went to click them a little popup with a url would cover them up so they couldn’t be used at times.
November 3, 2011 5:51 pm
Please move the sort back to the right and the bar back to the bottom. Maybe even make it a user option? A la Apple’s dock location.
Thanks!
November 3, 2011 6:43 pm
I haven’t been able to log in for the past week. The loading sign just stays on the screen, regardless of what computer I use.
November 3, 2011 8:38 pm
A sign of a great website is constant tinkering!
I would love to see an “on-the-go playlist” function for the site. I think this would make it an even better site to dj parties with, so that people can just add their requested songs to the queue.
I no longer have an Iphone, so I would love there to be a better Hype-machine-app-like shuffle function for the website (because pandora sucks but that’s what I have to use these iphoneless days)
Also I’m indifferent to the play bar at the top, but it seems to be messing with users with i pads.
November 3, 2011 9:33 pm
i don’t know why anyone has anything negative to say. i think the improvements are all great and i, for one, welcome the new hypem with open ears.
November 4, 2011 1:41 am
I agree with ‘Rob’ regarding the Android app:
Buy the Android app from the developer, it is extremely good!!!
November 4, 2011 3:28 am
Not a huge fan of the player at the top. I liked it a lot more at the bottom of the page.
November 4, 2011 8:14 am
Love the player at the top. Missing the giant image of a phonograph, though. 🙂
November 4, 2011 8:52 am
The new update is awesome! It’s awesome how the songs underneath the radio show are now playable. Anyway to adjust the volume when the new album premieres? Other than that great job, love the site.
November 4, 2011 9:51 am
One issue people are bound to have with the new player is that, regardless of where it is on the screen, the briefest of mouseovers is triggering the pop out: if you move your mouse to click in the menu (or if the player was at the bottom, if you move your mouse to the taskbar) the pop out will flash by in your view. To some people that’s a rather large nuisance, and one that’s easily fixed (without creating a nuisance for other users) by setting a 300 ms delay on the pop out (and on its disappearance on mouseout at that as well).
November 4, 2011 12:30 pm
Giant phonograph lives on the bottom now 😉
November 4, 2011 2:38 pm
What happen with the link to the fast-forward section? And yes, please, if you really wanna improve the hype machine add a playlist feature, PLEASE!
November 4, 2011 6:03 pm
I have read the first 5 comments and they were suggesting the same things I would.
please change it back. and yes, android player?
November 4, 2011 11:53 pm
I can’t get the music player to work =\
November 5, 2011 6:36 pm
First of all, I love what you are doing with these site updates.
My only complaint/suggestion would be I like my account drop down being directly underneath the blog directory drop down so it’s not over the ads on the right side.
I’m using a 24″ monitor @ 1680×1050.
Also the title/link for the team blog is aligned left on FF 7.0.1 for some reason. Looks like it should be centered.
Other than that <3 your site.
November 6, 2011 1:17 am
The site seems much worse at automatically playing the next song on both my iPad and computer.
Is there any way that HypeM could stream one song in advance so playback is seamless?
November 6, 2011 2:58 pm
To cancel out the first commenter – an “anything but remixes” option under “popular.”
November 6, 2011 4:34 pm
Nice! stuff seems to be working now… love the little doodles at the bottem 🙂
November 6, 2011 10:04 pm
I’m getting problems with the ‘spy’ section.
Anytime I pause it or skip a song the song list changes. If I’m listening to a song and I see a song I want to listen to on the ‘spy’ song list and I press play on that song, the song list refreshes and it plays the song at the top of the list. It does it everytime, now if I want to listen to a song from the spy list I have to ‘love’ it and then go to my profile.
Is this a bug or do I need to change something??
November 7, 2011 12:37 pm
the old player was better. dont like scrolling back to the top
November 7, 2011 3:07 pm
Hi Hype Mechanics,
Unlike much of the peanut gallery, I happen to love the new redesign. Stick with it, people hate change at first but they will come around to many of the improvements you’ve made. Keep up the great work, and I would love to buy you all a round of drinks someday.
-Dan
November 8, 2011 8:54 pm
When the player was at the bottom, I could browse and still skip to the next song whenever I wanted. Now, as I’m browsing, I have to keep scrolling all the way back to the top to go to the next song, losing my place. If it’s going to stay at the top, would it be possible to keep the player at the top of the screen even if you’ve scrolled down the page? It’s a pain to have to continuously scroll up and down to control it. Otherwise, looks nice.
November 19, 2011 2:06 pm
Sorry, re: my previous comment, I meant that I have to scroll to the top to scrub forward in a song and sample through it, not to go to the next song.
November 19, 2011 2:13 pm
Kimberly – that was a temporary bug. the player will remain on top of the screen.
November 20, 2011 2:41 pm
The search bar should still follow you down the page, but now you have to scroll up to the top to search something. That’s pretty inconvenient. Also, I’d prefer it if there were still page numbers as opposed to 1,2, then infinity. Its easier to jump back farther without having to write in the address bar what page you want to go to.
A feature that would be extremely useful is if you searched an artist and it showed at the top what songs you’v loved by that artist so you don’t have to scroll through page after page looking for what you loved like a year ago.
We appreciate your efforts! <3
November 28, 2011 6:54 pm