![]() First, many people are ditching iTunes in favor of subscription-based streaming services like Spotify or Rdio - they don’t have MP3 files on their hard drives anymore. Second, SoundCloud provides a free API, but doesn’t have solid metadata and can start charging for this API. And sometimes, SoundCloud removes copyrighted content if a song wasn’t uploaded by the content holder. So 8tracks had to find a way to rely less on these APIs and boost playlist creation numbers. The company signed licensing deals with independent labels and aggregators INgrooves, CD Baby, Dim Mak and DashGo. Overall, the new music library features 6.5 million songs already, and this is just the beginning as the company plans to sign deals with major music labels as well. “The longer game is to have a complete library of content,” Porter said. Now, you can just search for an artist or song and see if it’s in 8tracks’ catalog. If it’s not available, the other options still work. When you favorite a song on 8tracks, it will be added to your crate, a personal repository of songs that you like. This new feature will help turn active listeners into DJs.īehind the scene, things won’t change much. Like heavyweight competitor Pandora, the company already operates under a particular radio-like license, meaning that it pays fees to content holders every time someone streams a song. With today’s new approach, the company will pay that fee directly to the record labels rather than SoundExchange, the entity that handles royalty collection for services like 8tracks or Pandora. It will cost more or less the same for the company. 8tracks has been profitable since 2012 and now has an in-house ad selling team. When I asked Porter whether it was easy to sign those deals with content holders given that many music labels want to get rid of the free tier of streaming services, he told me that music labels were enthusiastic as 8tracks is all about music discovery. #8tracks mobile add to listen later free# And it’s true that you can’t just search for an artist or song to stream it like on Spotify. “We are Switzerland - we don’t have any intention to be a full on-demand service,” he said. #8tracks mobile add to listen later full# Today’s move was also motivated by 8tracks’ shift to mobile. Evidence of this lies in listening hours - two-thirds of the service’s 30 million monthly listening hours are on a mobile device. “Given the shift to mobile consumption, we thought we needed to have a mobile creation approach,” Porter said. In the fall, you will be able to create playlist directly from the mobile app. #8tracks mobile add to listen later free#.#8tracks mobile add to listen later full#.The plan is for ad-supported and subscription tiers, including direct licensing deals with labels – some tracks on existing 8tracks playlists are being automatically skipped for now but “the vast majority of current 8tracks playlists are available to stream”. Over time we will add new features and integrations, making 8tracks the best destination and community for amazing, handcrafted playlists, music discovery and finding just the right music for a particular moment,” it explained. “We intend to continue to operate the 8tracks brand and build upon the service. This follows the acquisition of some of 8tracks’ assets by a new company called BackBeat Inc. Streaming in Canada will be enabled within days,” announced the site yesterday. “We are thrilled to announce that 8tracks will resume streaming from its website, in the US, effective immediately. In a surprise twist now, though, 8tracks is back. Founder David Porter would later reveal that he had turned down an acquisition offer from Google in late 2014, although he stressed that he still thought it had been the right decision. Launched in August 2008, 8tracks was one of the longest-established music streaming services until its shutdown at the end of 2019, with the admission that “we can’t generate enough revenue, at our current scale, to cover royalties that continue to increase”. ![]()
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