Blip.fm is a Twitter-like (using similar #tags and @users) social music site that lets you play DJ by ‘blipping’ songs through their search engine. Their search engine uses their own database for mp3 songs, as well as searching YouTube for music videos.

Once registered (you can link to your Facebook or Twitter ID) you can start adding your favorite DJs, usually by using the Find DJs option and entering one or more artists/bands that you like. Blip.fm will then return a number of users that have played those artists and you get the option to add them to your list of DJs.

Searching the database for an artist or song and blipping the song you found might also result in a recommendation for DJs that played that artist.

One cool feature is that you can add songs to their database either by using the Settings->Music option or by entering a URL to a public mp3 in the search box. This way you can enter songs you come across at music blogs or for instance find in The Internet Archive. You can also enter the URL to a YouTube video in there. The only drawback is that the mp3s need to be properly tagged (and videos need a proper title) for information to show properly in the blip. Though you can always enter the correct info in the comment accompanying the blip.

The social part of the site includes the option to connect (Settings->Services) to other sites so your blips end up there as well. For now it supports Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm (all the songs/videos you blip end up in your playlist there), Friendfeed, tumblr, LiveJournal, and ping.fm. You get the option to toggle the services on/off on every blip.

Aside from DJ-ing yourself, you can play the ‘radio’ either by selecting all DJs that are blipping or just your favorite DJs. The site will then cycle through all the blips either from top to bottom or bottom to top (can be set in the settings screen). Another option lets you filter out the videos from YouTube, so you only get mp3s.

You can also manage songs/videos by adding them to the playlist. The playlist offers the ability to reorder the songs in a sequence that you like.

The site rewards you with badges for receiving props (kudos given by listeners who like a certain song) in a row, days of blipping in a row, reblipped songs by others, and connected services, among other things.

Once you get started as DJ you might want to change the email settings, which by default sends you tons of emails about replies to your blipped songs, new listeners, and props.

A great Firefox add-on that comes in real handy with the site is DownloadThemAll! (together with FlashGot) which enables you to grab the mp3s or YouTube videos.

To get started, and add me as one of your favourite DJs at the same time, click the image below. Have fun blippin’!