We further envisioned 8tracks could become a platform that could connect different services, so one DJ could use her Spotify account to publish a playlist into 8tracks, which could then be streamed by a listener using his Apple Music account. In the spring, SoundExchange reached out to push for payment of back royalties. We found a prospective low-ball buyer in the fall but, last Thursday, that buyer decided not to complete its purchase of the company. As technology has advanced, the atomic unit of consumption has shifted, from prepayment for consumption of all the songs in an album the CD , to prepayment for use of a single song the download , to pay-as-you-go for an individual song the stream.
With each step, the artist and anyone who represents that artist, like a label gets paid less and later; with each step, the listener gains more flexibility in paying for and consuming what they want, when they want it. More than 40, tracks are added to Spotify every day , and myriad forms of digital entertainment and information — the rabbit hole of YouTube, games, apps, blogs, newsletters and more — compete for the attention of the youthful demographics that traditionally consume the most music.
Given the magnitude of music royalties, the only way to field a enduring streaming music service if music from the major labels is to be offered is through money and scale. But the reason we fell behind in royalties is because we steadily lost the scale of listenership necessary to sell advertising with a direct sales team at CPMs that would cover compulsory royalty rates with a solid margin. And the steady decline in our free, ad-supported audience resulted in a smaller base of active listeners that might eventually be converted to 8tracks Plus, our ad-free subscription offering.
Moreover, Spotify offers a complete music streaming experience, spanning on-demand and lean-back radio listening. Our bet was that most consumers, most of the time, would opt for highly tailored lean-back programming — because easy and relevant — and could pop out to an on-demand service once in a while when they wished to hear a particular track or artist. And we were right , in part. If you registered with 8tracks using your Facebook or Google credentials, please send us an email at support 8tracks.
In addition, on 8tracks. Skip to content 8tracks has had a long run and its day in the sun. Welcome Back, 8tracks! Pingback: Streaming platform 8tracks shutters after 11 years - Spoololife. Pingback: PSA: 8tracks is shutting down — Maitimiel. Pingback: The right to profit or lack thereof — Lucas Gonze blog. While 8tracks is far from a household name, as Pandora and Spotify have become, the service has amassed a devoted cadre of fans who tune in to listen to crowd-curated playlists.
Around 1 percent of the user base cobbles together playlists of at least eight tracks for the rest of the community, uploading their own songs or nabbing them from external music platforms like SoundCloud and YouTube. Yet 8tracks has seen its audience growth stagnate. The company drew 2. It recently hired Jon Maples, a former Rhapsody executive, as its first vp of product. On the monetization side, 8tracks has expanded its ad sales team to eight people to deepen its relationships with advertisers and agencies.
While 8tracks is a fraction the size of Pandora or Spotify, which drew And we have so much programming that is organized in particular verticals, so taking that tack has broadened the interest beyond just a pure music buy. Essentially what that means is that 8tracks can raise money by selling equity in the company en masse to average people who are interested in supporting the company.
Porter explains the reasoning behind this bold move. Even today, the most of the reason we get most of our traffic which is through organic search on Google, is the result of having so many links that have been established by sharing playlists on social media. You have Google and Apple that have virtually unlimited resources, and you have Spotify and Pandora who have each raised a billion dollars.
But at the same time, no one is making any money yet. So now we need to tap into individuals to fund the company at scale, and the way that makes the most sense is crowdfunding. When they put out feelers to gauge interest in backing the company, users pledged a combined 30 million dollars.
Although this figure may drop to as low as half when all is said and done, there is a backbone to this adopted family that will hopefully give them enough capital to continue to be the rebels that they are, in a world of streaming titans. I would love to see 8tracks artist use the power of crowdspeaking to help share their music to new audiences who do not follow them on social media. Join the Discussion. Toggle navigation. Sign In.
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