spotify leaves DJing
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Spotify withdraws from DJ streaming — apparently not the end of the world

Here’s something that blipped on my grapevine a good 6 months ago now, but has just been confirmed. Spotify will be leaving the DJ streaming arena, which means that Algoriddim’s djay, Serato’s Pyro, and the Pacemaker app will soon lose your favourite streaming service. 

As far as djay goes, the service will stop July 1st. This gives you 3 months plus to make alternative arrangements. Thankfully, djay has just added TIDAL and SoundCloud (which was a huge clue in itself), and has provided full instructions on how to migrate your Spotify playlists over to TIDAL and SoundCloud. TIDAL is also offering a full 3 months for free to soften the blow. Now you’ll have something to do while you’re self isolating. 

Don’t worry — moving to TIDAL is easy, and certainly a more complete transition than I expected it to be. Another story will follow tomorrow detailing my experience. 

HEADING OFF THE FULL CAPS RANTS

There are two things I need to underline here. Firstly, this is Spotify’s decision to withdraw from all DJ streaming platforms. Some of you will knee-jerk blame Algoriddim for ruining their DJ existence, but believe me when I say that this is the last thing that they wanted to happen. It has been their USP in an increasingly crowded DJ streaming market. So be sure to direct your anger at the right people i.e. not Algoriddim. Be thankful that the service wasn’t shut down mid gig. 

The second thing that always grinds my gears is how some believe that adding streaming is the software maker’s choice. If it was, everyone would have gone with Spotify by now. So when people spout the inevitable request for Apple Music to be added, just remember that such a decision is entirely in the hands of Apple, who to date haven’t allowed any third-party integrations of their library into software whatsoever. And from experience, Apple Music doesn’t is seriously lacking in similar content. It is after all a music store, not a streaming platform. 

So yes, we’re sad to see Spotify leave the DJ building. But alternatives exist, and are possibly better for some too. TIDAL for example has video streaming. At least it’s one less subscription to worry about.

It’s OK to be annoyed, but it’s a wasted emotion. Use the three months of free TIDAL to migrate away from Spotify and embrace the future. It’s not like you have a choice.

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Mark Settle
The Old Owner
I was the editor around these parts for the first two decades of the DJWORX journey. I’m on a creative journey at The Worxlab, and drop in occasionally here. Expect the odd article from me every now and again.
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25 Comments

  1. Hi Mark, Pyro’s become my second point of call after Spotify when I audition new tracks to check out BPM’s and sort some potential playlists before I buy the tracks on Beatport to play out with Serato DJ at gigs. The fact that the BPM’s match perfectly with Serato DJ as they must use the same tech helps so much as often stated BPM’s on Beatport don’t match up when loaded onto Serato DJ. As it’s become a major part of my DJ workflow I was shocked to read your story that it’s soon to be not supported by Spotify. I contacted Serato official support and they have no idea about it. Are you sure that Pyro and Spotify will not be working together in July?

    1. While there’s nothing incoming from Spotify, Algoriddim’s statement is that Spotify “will stop working with 3rd party DJ apps”. I’m led to believe that is means access to an API will be stopped, which for me implies it will be for all DJ related apps, and possibly more. Time will tell.

      1. Maybe Spotify don’t see Pyro as a DJ app as such, compared to other more obvious DJ apps that allow further manipulation than just automixing tracks with limited options.

        1. It’s possible, as had been alluded to in the comments, that his is a decision based on the whole public performance issue. Pyro does rather lend itself to public performance such as gyms and bars though. I will be surprised if it survives.

  2. No playing in public for a dj is like saying you can sample this new ice cream but can’t ever get a full scoop. ridiculous on its face from the start to assume this would not be played in public while eager to take DJs money.

  3. Not that much pissed off but really concerned.

    Does this mean other services such as Tidal, Deezer or SoundCloud will also have to remove DJing apps integration as they renew their contracts with the majors ?

    I think that streaming is seeing the same transition as physical->digital 20 years ago.

    The problem when majors get too greedy or are reluctant to technology and cultural advancement, people tend to find workarounds that end up being illegal/piracy. It’s something I would be even less comfortable seeing happening, being both a user/listener and producer of music.

    1. SoundCloud exists for creators and DJs, so it makes absolute sense for them to have this. TIDAL only just started with djay, so it would be daft to pull out any time soon. They also offer HD video mixing within djay Pro 2 for Mac and djay for iOS PRO subscription, for the same price as SoundCloud’s subscription. It’s also worth noting that even the Premium sub gets you 320kbps stream quality. SoundCloud is limited to 128kbps, which is what the website streams at. but you get a shit tonne more underground and niche electronic music.

      1. @Dan@happydan:disqus do you feel with the ability to stream that DJ’s have lost the art of music discovery? I mean besides writing down requests I receive from the patrons of the venue I work at, listening to other DJ’s podcasts, keeping abreast of Billboard for mainstream music, and also researching Shazam to see what people are actually searching for most commonly based upon my location. Maybe it is time for a refresher to let ladies and gentleman DJ’s out there know there are a lot of ways to discover music that go beyond what they can find on Spotify even though SPotify has a robust library. I am not against streaming music or using that method to perform live however there are many kinks with respect to protection of intellectual property, copyrights, and monetization I feel the overall industry are still working out. It is great that Soundcloud survived the troubles they had last decade to be able to be included in any conversation especially streaming in 2020.

      1. Hmm Didn’t know that..
        …It’s forbidden to play Spotify songs in Public..
        Public is a huge word, does that mean playing for public for a commercial purpose only.
        Is it forbidden to play it in public when I go to the park or forbiiden to play it for for people when I host a party in my house.
        Playing it for the people in my reataurant…?
        Do you know if ther is UAL where this topic is detailed ?
        But I still can’t find the logic of forbbiding it,since you are paying for it whats the negative side of playing it in public ?
        Thanks

  5. The only people who care about this are people who haven’t invested years into collecting music. It’s just another blow that for $10 / month someone new can come in and have most of the same music as a DJ who’s been in the business 25 years and has spend tens of thousands of dollars on music. And will likely never recoup that investment. I’m glad to see it go – now it makes me more valuable.

  6. “Apple Music doesn’t is seriously lacking in similar content”
    Does that mean is or isn’t?

    To be honest I always wondered why djay had access to Spotify at all when the licensing didn’t seem to match up to intended use.
    Also made me very sick of people complaining about how Serato needs to add Spotify and saying “but djay has it” when anybody tried to mention licencing and that spotify would have to work with them.

    Tidal should just keep getting better and better as it gains users.

    1. Recently I learned from financial and specialized press (will try to find the source articles) that Apple has renewed all its contracts with music majors whereas Spotify hasn’t and still is in negotiations. They let Spotify play the streams in the meantime and will regularise when the deal is done. My guess is Spotify does neither want to put its deals with majors in jeopardy or see its streams costs increase significantly because of these apps in case majors request a higher fee for tracks streamed from djing apps.

    2. DJay started their partnership with Spotify in 2014.
      At this time, Spotify was still a startup, was not profitable and had a lot of difficulties to find a way to make people PAY, and not use only the “free” access.
      “DJs are buying music? Hmmm OK they’ll pay the monthly subscription….”

      That’s logic to find partnership to expend your business…

      Then Spotify grew up, gone public (with Majors putting money on them then withdraw…) => The Startup model gone to a Wall Street one…

      It’s forbidden to play Spotify songs in Public, so why keeping this feature in a DJ Software…

      1. > It’s forbidden to play Spotify songs in Public

        Their T&Cs do say that, yes – but they a had partnership with Algoriddim and presumably were fully aware it was DJ software.

        FYI it says the same thing in the Tidal T&Cs, but their partnership with Denon DJ is all above board.

        I think it’s safe to assume the T&Cs are worded for the majority (consumers) and not the partnerships with DJ companies.

      2. It’s forbidden to play Spotify songs in Public, so why keeping this feature in a DJ Software…

        I knew this was a rule and people didn’t like me for mentioning it. But it was always against Spotify’s TOS to use their service for DJing/Public Performances. It’s just they didn’t bother to enforce it. Now they’re basically having to leave the DJ scene and honestly, that’s probably a good thing. I knew artists were strongly considering pulling their discography or severely limiting it to avoid people using all this integration to basically not pay for music but have access to everything. Plus, this constant push towards streaming is coming from the new people and bedroom DJs in big cities. I’ve been seeing push back against an all streaming future from smaller town and rural DJs who don’t have access to great internet. Hell, I live in a small metropolis and my internet can get pretty bad as far as streaming stuff, so I’ve always been a bigger fan of downloads personally. Plus that’s not even getting into the money aspect Spotify presents as well, which could be (and has been) it’s own topic.

        I’ll be the A-hole and say good riddance to bad rubbish. If this means there are less bad beginning DJs, good. There are already enough problems with DJs doing Pay-2-Play and bad crap like that in big cities like NY. All these beginners who thought they would get away with just streaming were going to have problems anyways, like when a labels decides to pull something for one reason or another. Even growing up as a lower-middle class/poor person I was spending what money I had on buying music to support the artists I loved and working whatever I could to get into shows for free. If you really love music, I feel like you’ll stick this kind of stuff out by either transitioning to what streaming services are supported or following the time hallowed tradition of owning your music as a DJ.

  7. Well, that kinda bites. As a beginner DJ, the Spotify integration was wonderful because it is my daily driver for listening to music, which made it easier to draft mixes and setlists, then I just jumped on my deck and started sketching. Guess I’ll have to put more conscious effort into developing my ideas, or just say screw it to DJ streaming and go back to pulling MP3s because neither Tidal nor Soundcloud has the same reach and availability of tracks. I’ve just started the import into Soundcloud, and I’m already missing nearly half of my songs.

    Considering the limited availability of some of these albums, I’m now unsure if I’m even going to continue. I’ll certainly try, though.

    2. This gives you reason to embrace owning the physical MP3/ WAV/ AIFF files to perform or joining a record pool like BPM Supreme. Searching for music is so fun as a DJ! If you’re looking for trends Billboard for mainstream music and the perfect compliment to the charts Shazam. Shazam allows one to view the most commonly searched songs through their service based upon location. Just type in yours or the closest major city and have at it. It’s more work however still fulfilling as you’ll discover new music or songs you may miss on others curated Spotify playlists.

      1. Very true, I did go ahead and buy about 60 albums off Bandcamp today so I’d have more esoteric works to play with, along with personal favorites like Camellia, Kobaryo, and Frums. I don’t really go for trends, I play with the music I like and just make little mixes for friends. Will definitely keep those tools in mind!

        1. Great choices. You’re doing it the right way and creating your own sound and style ultimately your artistic creativity shining through the culmination of everything. Keep doing what you’re doing man! I love Bandcamp and the ability to support the artists more directly.

  8. I don’t use Spotify because I’m too aware of the ungodly amount (yes that’s right: “amount” not “number” because I’ve stopped counting) of shitty moves they’ve pulled. I understand its convenience and mainstream appeal, but I also passionately hate it at the same time. Any service that lets me stream but not flat out purchase stuff is useless to me personally, it’s a goddamned cocktease for DJs. It’s 2020. I want the files, and I want them lossless, and guess what: I’m happy to pay for them individually rather than in bulk. Therefore Bandcamp is a much, much better option for me – and they’re very fair towards artists, too.