Myxer.com, a leading site for ringtones and media for phones, is mixing it up, entering the streaming music space. With the launch of Myxer Social Radio, a website and mobile app for streaming custom-themed radio stations. Their niche is that users can invite friends to their station, called a room, and chat about the music.

Users can also sync in real-time with their Facebook friends that are listening on Myxer, and can jump into a friend’s room at any time. The user can even invite a friend to join their room via a friend request.

Visitors of a room can influence the music by voting on songs, as the playlist will evolve based on the mood and tastes of the guests. However it will not automatically change genre. (It will not choose GAGA to play in a death metal-themed room, for example.)

Myxer Social Radio requires a Facebook account to sign up, and will post to Facebook when a user creates or enters a room–although sharing can be turned off.

The live interaction of rooms separates Myxer from other streaming radio services like Pandora. In Myxer, pause a song and the room can still hear the song–it just mutes the station feed and will join back in by hitting Play. Aside from live chatting about a song, users can also upload video about what a song means to them, a feature called Stories. Dedications will be the next feature to roll out, letting users record a video and send a song to a friend.

Myxer is not the only service to incorporate chat rooms and Facebook connections. Turntable.fm also has a chat feature, but room creation works differently–each listener adds specific songs into the playlist. Myxer’s room playlists are generated automatically based on the genre and user interests.

Myxer.com, which is reporting 14 million unique visitors a month, will continue to offer downloads of ringtones and other media that has made it popular. But, the focus on streaming radio is a necessary evolution as smartphones become more popular.

Marquis McCoy is a Media Planner / Buyer at The Radio Agency. Please follow The Radio Agency’s Blog “Sounding Board” by subscribing to the email or RSS links above. Visit our website TheRadioAgency.com