Spotify inks deal with Beatport for exclusive content and curated playlists

Spotify is grasping for exclusive content as new competitors snag select artists and albums for their own platforms.

Today the company announced a contract with streaming service Beatport for exclusive access to Beatport music releases, curated playlists, and audio and video from SFX electronic music festivals and events. Beatport is an electronic music streaming service that also hosts live events and curated music playlists.

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Though Spotify has dabbled in music curation, its playlists still need work. Beatport could supply a certain human element to Spotify’s platform, which is otherwise largely based on algorithms.

Spotify is under intense pressure from a new crop of competitors — namely Apple Music and Tidal. In the past couple of years, several artists have taken their music off of Spotify in favor of Tidal and Apple Music. Both subscription-based streaming services offer a wave of exclusive material not found on Spotify, including music from Taylor Swift, Thom Yorke, and Jason Aldean, as well as music videos from artists like Beyonce and Nicki Minaj. Apple Music, known as a beacon of taste, also has a series of curated playlists and a live radio station run by DJ Zane Lowe.

Founded in 2004, Beatport only launched its electronic music streaming service earlier this year. Since then it’s accrued 5 million registered users. The company has access to more than 43,000 labels and adds roughly 25,000 tracks to its platform a week. Though the company has paid out $181 million in license fees over the past 9 years, Beatport has still garnered some critics (just like Spotify).

It’s unclear how Spotify will be rolling out Beatport content on its platform, but one thing is apparent: Spotify needs exclusive content to offset the artists who leave for tastemakers like Apple.