Beatport has built upon its Beatport LINK on-demand streaming service with an online app also geared towards DJs. Beatport DJ, as it’s called, offers users the functionality of DJ decks from the convenience of their web browser.
The service allows users to mix tracks from Beatport’s 9 million-song library in real time using digital players and a mixer. Also included are MIDI input, controller support, hot cues and looping. The electronic music download store hopes to eliminate the time needed to acquire and catalogue music in preparation for DJ sets.
A public beta of the service is available to anyone with a LINK, LINK PRO or LINK PRO+ subscription in addition to those using LINK-integrated products by Pioneer DJ, Serato, Hercules, and others. It currently only runs on Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Opera, although additional browser compatibility is in the works.
Notably missing is the option to buy tracks directly from the interface, with payouts instead based on the LINK subscription model. Writing for CDM Create Digital Music, Peter Kirn argues that the online music marketplace passed up an opportunity to encourage artist support at a time when the COVID-19 crisis continues to ravage their finances. “The issue I have with Beatport DJ is, it has the potential to do these things but then … well, doesn’t,” he explains.
Beatport was founded in Denver in 2004, and it rose to popularity as a download store catering to dance music fans as CDJ media players gradually replaced vinyl record turntables. The company was purchased by SFX Entertainment in 2013, who then rebranded as LiveStyle after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016.
Try out the public beta of Beatport DJ here.
