Social media’s impact on the music industry in the past year has changed the way many of us enjoy and share music online. Meltwater recently mentioned a few social music startups in a “Social Startups Worth Watching in 2012” post, but this niche category includes many more sites that are making music more social including:

• Spotify: Spotify has been a massive international sensation that was just made legal in the U.S a few months back. With the help of a partnership with Facebook you can’t avoid this music monster. But why would you want to? With tons of tracks, all for free, playlists you can subscribe to and share with friends, Spotify isn’t going anywhere soon. Best of all? Artists benefit for each play, making piracy a non-issue.

• Turntable.fm: A social site that enables people to listen to digital music together, simulating a concert or club experience. Turntable.fm allows users to bring digital music out of solitude and turn it into a social experience. Discovering and sharing is easy with Turntable, where you can join a room and simply listen, or play your favorite tracks for others by becoming a DJ. I just heard a great use case in which Meltwater’s Client Relations teams across San Francisco, Miami and New York take turns DJing songs while the offices listen together while they work. Listeners vote song choices up and down and take ownership of selecting great music for the offices. Fun!

• Songkick: This is a site that does the work for you. By connecting your account with Facebook and iTunes, Songkick identifies your favorite artists and alerts you when there’s an upcoming show in your selected area. You’ll never miss a good show again!

• Rdio: Similar to Spotify in that it enables people to stream millions of songs, but different catalogs, pricing plans and always ad-free. Much like Spotify, you still need to pay to use it on-the-go, but depending on your music tastes, it could be the perfect alternative.

• Grooveshark: Much like Spotify and Rdio, you can stream the web for songs, playlists and radio stations. Search the web, connect with Facebook and friends and discover new music. Plus, Grooveshark is the perfect platform for artists to promote themselves and their music.

 

• Bamm.tv: Not your traditional digital music sharing service, Bamm.tv connects artists with entertainment service providers and audiences worldwide. Bamm.tv is responsible for creating, distributing and sharing music videos with fans and bringing artists the attention they deserve.

• Tracksfor: Use the hashtag #tracksfor to discover new playlists. Just add a link and a hashtag to your tweets to discover today’s digital mixtape. Use the site to follow favorite lists, find new tracks, and more.

• Fit Radio: DJ-engineered tunes to pump you up for your work out. What could be better? Though designed specifically to motivate you for your work outs, Fit Radio mixes, mashes and plays the perfect tunes for any occasion – even the workplace! Browse it next time you want to get pumped up.