Hype Machine was originally a music database created in 2005 by Anthony Volodkin, then a sophomore computer science major at Hunter College.

"[1] In 2005, Volodkin sent his site address to pioneers in the online music domain, including Lucas Gonze of Webjay, in order to gain feedback.

Additionally, Hype Machine maintains a Popular List for the last three days and the previous week, both of which are determined by the number of "loves" given to each song by users.

[6] Above each song are provided links to online music retailers such as eMusic, Amazon, and iTunes, allowing users to purchase the track.

[1] In January 2010, The Hype Machine partnered with SoundCloud, allowing labels to provide music bloggers with new and pre-released tracks.