Spotify Forms New Partnership, Puts Focus On Human Curation
Spotify, which has been one of the most dominant music streaming services since its 2006 creation, is changing its tune. The Verge got the goods on Spotify’s new deal with streaming service BeatPort, which would allow the people behind Spotify to add Human-curated playlists to their repertoire.
“It’s not clear exactly what the partnership will look like, but Spotify will have access to Beatport’s exclusive DJ mixes and videos of live events. Beatport’s team will also create ‘highly curated’ playlists for Spotify. Spotify has had some level of human curation for the past few years, but its themed playlists mostly feel cold and robotic.”
Truth be told, Apple hasn’t been shy about letting consumers know that Apple Music has a more human feel to it than that of its competitors. It appears Spotify has solved this problem with the addition of curated playlists, and they’ve also added the element of live-streaming music, another feature once exclusive to Apple.
LIVE on #Periscope: LIVE on #Periscope: @MarianHillMusic is performing a coffee-break-sized concert #DDSummerSoundt… https://t.co/q80WgC3Kvf
— Spotify (@Spotify) July 21, 2015
Despite the steep competition, Spotify doesn’t seem shaken by Apple Music, as Inquisitr noted. Before this deal, Spotify users had the chance to make custom playlists based on songs they saved or an artist they liked. However, with curation coming into play, they will now be able to have those playlists chosen for them by BeatPort’s team. To put that idea into context, DJs and other music experts were recruited by Apple’s BeatsOne Radio to do the same thing for their users.
Venture Beat discovered that the Spotify/BeatPort deal will also grab Spotify some exclusive content such as video and audio from SFX dance festivals. This may help Spotify better compete against services like Apple Music and Tidal, which both have their own methods of locking down exclusive videos and music from artists.
https://instagram.com/p/5PuQ9Otfkf/?taken-by=spotify
Venture Beat added that there’s no information yet on how exactly Spotify is going to leverage this new feature or what it will look like when it comes out. Even with streaming radio based around a song’s “mood” or “feeling,” the addition of Human curation to Spotify could be a boon that will make its radio stations feel more personalized. Depending on how Spotify plays things, we could see a more social music experience like 8Tracks, a streaming service that lets users tag songs by the way they feel and then share playlists based on a mood or tone. Stay tuned for further updates.
[Image Credit: Gigaom.com]
