Beatsource is what happens when a music pool and digital music store aka a pair of giants in the DJ industry get together and fool around under the covers. DJCity and Beatport made a bouncing baby music store, especially for “open format and mobile DJ”. It covers six genres — Hip-Hop, R&B, Latin, Pop, Dance, and Reggae/Dancehall, and now that store has become a streaming platform and been transplanted right into the belly of Pioneer DJ’s rekordbox. Say hello to Beatsource LINK, in caps no less.
Words… there are always words:
BEATSOURCE BRINGS STREAMING INTEGRATION TO PIONEER DJ’S REKORDBOX
Professional and amateur DJs can now utilize the beta version of Beatsource LINK technology to immediately access millions of hit songs with a 30-day free trial
Los Angeles, CA – May 4, 2020 – In a move that brings in a new era in DJ technology, Beatsource, the music streaming service for open format DJs created by Beatport and the world’s largest promotional record pool, DJcity, will this week introduce the new Beatsource LINK technology in public beta. Beatsource LINK will instantly change the way DJs perform their sets, providing them with unprecedented access to a library of millions of hits from multiple genres of music, allowing professional and amateur DJs to stream music directly into their DJ software, more seamlessly than ever before.
Already a success last year in the dance music community when Beatport LINK was introduced in Pioneer DJ rekordbox, Beatsource now looks to emulate this success to the open-format DJ community, offering a comprehensive collection of new releases and classic hits to give both professional and aspiring DJs an expertly-curated DJ library. No matter what kind of gig, Beatsource LINK’s convenient and reliable integration with rekordbox allows instant access to all the hits from top genres including Hip-Hop, Pop, R&B, Latin, Dance, and Reggae / Dancehall.
Another unique benefit for DJs of Beatsource LINK is the Offline Performance Mode feature, which provides the ability to store up to 100 songs in a locker that can be used without an internet connection. With this, DJs can create, build, and manage their personal playlists on Beatsource.com or directly in the rekordbox interface and not be dependent on a strong wi-fi connection for their DJ set. This unique Offline Performance Mode eliminates the need for DJs to download music and at long last makes available a reliable professional streaming solution for DJs.
Already, Beatsource LINK is being trialed by a number of top DJs such as A-Trak (GRAMMY nominee for the track “Barbra Streisand”), Paul Blair (aka “DJ White Shadow” GRAMMY- winning producer for Lady Gaga and “A Star is Born” soundtrack), and MistaJam (renowned DJ signed to Armada Music and radio personality who hosts BBC Radio1’s Dance Anthems every Saturday). MistaJam stated, “I’m very excited to be able to play with Beatsource LINK! This will be an awesome tool for any DJ’s arsenal, no matter what your skill level. Being able to play nearly any track I can think of directly from rekordbox is a huge benefit, making it faster than ever before to access this huge library of music.”
The vast number of expertly-curated genre, artist, and occasion-themed playlists will also be available directly through rekordbox and give DJs access to a playlist for every occasion. For mobile DJs using a combination of Beatsource LINK and rekordbox, there has never been an easier solution to ensure that no song request is ever missing from their music library.
A 30-day free trial of Beatsource LINK requires only the free rekordbox DJ software to get started. Beatsource LINK PRO and PRO+ allows LINK subscribers to stream higher-quality audio while online or download tracks to an offline storage locker of 50 to 100 tracks. The three tiers available are Beatsource LINK at $9.99/month, Beatsource LINK Pro at $19.99/month, and Beatsource LINK Pro+ at $29.99/month, respectively.
Beatsource LINK is launching with Pioneer DJ’s rekordbox 6.0.1 in Public Beta on May 4, 2020. Beatsource is headed up by President Brian Wong (aka “DJ Quickie”), Chief Content Officer Edwin Paredes (aka “DJ Phenom”) and affiliated with Beatport, run by CEO Robb McDaniels.
For more about Beatsource LINK, additional information can be found here.
Another day, another streaming service
I love that there’s choice when it comes to streaming. Having a world of music at your fingertips, always updated means that the latest and hottest tracks (not always the same) are always right there in your window. The curated playlists make playing to a particular crowd easier too. But given the sheer number of services out there, FOMO is going to leave a huge hole in your bank account every month.
If you want particular tracks rather than every track in creation, it’s possibly cheaper to just buy them each month than fork out for multiple streaming services or to simply subscribe to a pool not bother with streaming at all. Having temporarily subscribed to a few recently, watching TIDAL, Beatport, SoundCloud et al dragging monthly subs from my bank account makes my balance wince.
For me, Beatsource LINK is for working DJs rather than casual listeners who can have their needs met with services like Spotify. Building it right into DJ software (Mojaxx says it’s coming to algoriddim’s djay, usefully just as Spotify withdraws from DJ streaming) can only grow the userbase. And the offline track feature counters some of the loss of internet concerns with streaming alone.
So streaming is definitely a thing for DJs now. Not everyone will use it, but it’s good to have. Will it become THE way that DJs consume music? Will there be enough interest in all the different streaming platforms, or will they have to specialise in particular genres to grab specialist DJs? Or as we’ve suggested, a platform will develop where artists and labels can stream their own stuff and get paid directly instead of the hope of micropayments from the big players?