Echo Nest powers Spotify’s new radio app

Music startup The Echo Nest revealed today that its music intelligence platform is being used for Spotify’s new radio app.

Spotify announced its new Radio function last week. Spotify Radio will let users create unlimited stations, skip an unlimited number of tracks and feature an all-new intelligent recommendation engine, powered by Echo Nest. The new radio service is available to both free and premium users. The function is available today and is located under Spotify’s Apps section.

As for the recommendation engine, The Echo Nest’s platform lets users create personalized radio stations based on songs or artists in Spotify’s catalogue of around 15 million tracks. The new functionality allows Spotify to directly compete with rival Pandora, which specializes in custom channel creation.

Echo Nest is no slouch when it comes to helping music services create applications. Over 250 music apps have been built on the Echo Nest platform to date.

Founded in 2005, the Somerville, Mass.-based startup has raised a total of $8.3 million in funding from Matrix Partners and Commonwealth Capital Ventures, Argos Management and three co-founders of MIT Media Lab.