Here at Candied Pop finding new music is a ceaseless quest and both Scott and I toil with every Web 2.0 (and some 1.8) apps that come our way looking for something that is fresh or at the very least approximates something slightly invigorating. For the most part it is hit or miss with the misses centering on the relative lack of music available on some of these services as well as some atrocious search and navigation found at some sites (yes, I’m talking to you music.download.com). Anyway, every once in a while an artist we haven’t heard is uncovered and we rejoice making all of it worthwhile.

So you might be asking, “Cut with the self-gratifying pontificating, WTF is folksonomy and how is that related to your listening habits?” Well, I’m a fan of the sort of instant gratification that plays well with a short attention span and sites like Digg and Reddit feed into that very nicely but do little to satisfy the music monkey perched on my shoulder nattering into my ear. Anyway, folksonomy is essentially a system that lets users tag content on the Internet using a common and flexible vocabulary thus allowing other users to connect the dots between disparate pieces of information. CC Hits is a Digg-like site that allows users to post links to tracks and tag those links so that users can relate and discover new music.

How’s the experience? So far I’m finding it addictive. Links do not come in as fast and furious as Digg or Reddit but the auto-generated playlist and integrated player more than make up for it by keeping a steady stream of new music pumping out of my speakers.  Tracks that you like can be modded up and those with the most number of thumbs up will float to the top and become hits.  There are RSS feeds as well that you can grab and drop into a reader to peruse the content at your leisure.
The catch, and selling point, of CC Hits is that all music submitted to the site must be covered under the Creative Commons licensing system so, no, you will not find the latest Madonna or Fall Out Boy.  Here’s what they say about the service:

• CC Hits is the new website to find and share music content under Creative Commons licenses.
• CC Hits is a collaborative podcast where users contribute links to music tracks.
• CC Hits lets users tell the world what will be the next hits by approving the most promising entries.
• CC Hits is a social music blog built on top of open projects and a source of shareable music.
• CC Hits is all about people, music, fun and freedom.

Even in its early stages CC Hits is plenty of fun and offers a great opportunity to unearth some new independent artists so it gets two enthusiastic thumbs up from me.  Go check it out.