EDM Life (Greg Wasik): We’ve got Rob McDaniels with us who is the CEO of Beatort. Tonight we’re at the official launch of their Link product which allows for streaming tracks from the Beat Source library. So obviously this is a new product you guys just came out with… how long has it been in the works for?
Rob McDaniels (CEO of Beatport): We are showcasing the Link product here both integrated with Pioneer DJ and Denon. So, that projects been in the work ever since I joined Beat Port and really in the months prior. We realized that it’s the future of DJing and it’s really that sort of next generation DJ experience and so we actually purchased Pulse Locker which had created this technology that allows for the retail environment to be integrated into DJ performance software and hardware.
EDM Life (Greg Wasik): Okay and you know I think one thing that the people just hearing about this technology now will kind of that the big question mark is if it’s all streaming what do they do if the Wi-Fi goes down is there a backup? How are they going to not have a problem?
Rob McDaniels (CEO of Beatport): Well certain DJ’s are not going to have an issue with the internet connection because they’re just using this to try out mixes before they buy the tracks, right. So, not every DJ is going to jump to being a you know screaming DJ internet access public performances. But we have a solution to that if you worry about the internet connection that’s our Locker which is the Link subscription has three tiers and Pro and Pro Plus are four of those DJs that want that offline experience with The Locker. So, you can store 50 or so songs on the offline mode so you don’t need that internet connection after all.
EDM Life (Greg Wasik): That’s great to have that back up. And then once 5G is out and what two to three years is everyone running it you could download your entire library in minutes which is probably be a solution as well.
Rob McDaniels (CEO of Beatport): Yeah, I mean obviously it’s great to have that library accessible that quickly but the reality is that even now with Link you’ve got access to you know 8 million songs on BeatPort you know at your fingertips. And so it really sort of changes how you think about your DJ set and you know not worrying about you know having all the right songs in case you think it’s something that you want to sort of drop in given you know what you’re feeling is the vibe in the club. And so now you can do that with Link. And so, it’s really something that I think is going to be sort of almost like a new playground for DJ’s to experiment with. And there’s a lot of cool products and information that can come from knowing what DJ’s are playing in what order and where they are and even how many people are in the venue.
EDM Life (Greg Wasik): You make a great track and see David Guetta plays it and you can put that on your list of ‘supported by so-and-so’. This is a good way for bedroom djs/producers to get their tracks out.
Rob McDaniels (CEO of Beatport): Well it’s a great way for a bedroom DJ’s to learn to DJ. Look I mean I know my 15-year-old son has never downloaded a song in his life right, but he knows how to stream music and that’s the workflow that’s comfortable and familiar to him. And so, the next generation of DJ’s are those 15/16/17- year-olds that are you know that want to have just access to everything and that’s the workflow they’re used to. They just want to click a button and have it be and not you know download the song, save it to your hard drive, save to USB and plug it in [laughter] yeah go through that you know like an eight-step process, right. So, that’s what we’re looking for it’s all about the future.
EDM Life (Greg Wasik): Right. Right. And right now, you guys are integrated with Pioneer and We DJ.
Rob McDaniels (CEO of Beatport): Yeah, we started with We DJ the launch in May which is Pioneer’s entry level DJ applications that goes with the DJ 200. And then we’ve integrated with Denon and Virtual DJ as well and then others you know like Tractor and Serrato are going to come early next year. You know by this time next year we should be integrated with everybody and you know beginning to integrate with hardware as well as software and you know just will see some amazing products coming out of the Link platform.
EDM Life (Greg Wasik): What are the price points for the subscription?
Rob McDaniels (CEO of Beatport): So, for BeatPort which is obviously our store for electronic music DJ’s, the pricing is $15 a month effectively for streaming access, online access. Then if you’re you know the pro DJ that wants to store songs in the Locker 50 and 100 it’s $40 and $60 dollars a month.
EDM Life (Greg Wasik): That’s pretty reasonable.
Rob McDaniels (CEO of Beatport): And BeatSource is a little bit cheaper because the songs are shorter. It’s a different culture and so the pricing is just different. Again, they’re you know for example the open format DJ with Beat Source Services you know will play three or four hundred songs in the night so playing one minute a song. And whereas the electronic music DJ’s much more about the journey sort of from beginning to end and you know they’re playing 50 or 60 songs so they have a different requirement for locker size. Song length is different and all that kind of stuff. We take that into account when pricing the tiers.
EDM Life (Greg Wasik): Okay kind of last question: Is there anything else that we didn’t discuss like such as features we should know about or strong point of the product?
Rob McDaniels (CEO of Beatport): Yeah well look we’re obviously excited about everything that Link you know portends and then we’ve got BeatSource. But we actually launched this cool product called BeatPort Hype earlier this year for our small emerging labels that don’t necessarily get the real estate on the BeatPort you know top 100 lists or front pages. So we created real estate in the store for these labels and it gives them that opportunity for promotion and exposure and it also helps our DJ customers find those diamonds in the rough, those great sort of songs that not everyone else is playing and that fit in well to their set. So, we’ve seen tremendous success from BeatPort Hype. Labels that are signed up for it I’ve seen an increase in sales of 85% which is pretty phenomenal for you know for a small label that’s trying to go from a few thousand dollars a month to ten thousand dollars a month it makes a huge difference for those people in their life. So, that’s been really impactful to our community.
EDM Life (Greg Wasik): Sounds like a great thing for smaller labels. Thank you for your time!
Get more info here: Beatport Link
