Spotify just one upped their competition in a major way

[Robert Nazarian]

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Today, Spotify announced the acquisition of Echo Nest, which is a “music intelligence” company that determines recommendations for listeners. The key here is that Echo Nest is used by many of Spotify’s competitors like Rdio.

Echo Nest will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Spotify and will honor any existing contracts. A Spotify rep told Engadget,

“In the few cases where The Echo Nest does work with direct competitors we will work with them to understand these relationships and determine the next business steps. The Echo Nest will meet all contractual obligations to all customers.”
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The main competitors that use Echo Nest include Rdio, iHeartRadio, Deezer, MOG, Vevo, Twitter Music, and Rhapsody. On top of forcing these competitors to find something else (after contracts expire), Echo Nest will further strengthen Spotify’s own music discovery expertise. Popular apps, Pandora and Slacker Radio, appear to be using a different engine.

source: Engadget

Spotify Acquires The Echo Nest


March 6, 2014

Deal Further Strengthens Spotify’s Music Discovery Expertise

Spotify today announced that it will acquire the industry’s leading music intelligence company, The Echo Nest. The acquisition supports Spotify’s strategy to grow global music consumption and overall revenue back to the music industry by building the best user experience and music discovery engine for millions of global fans.

This deal will allow Spotify to leverage The Echo Nest’s in depth musical understanding and tools for curation to drive music discovery for millions of users around the globe. The addition of The Echo Nest to Spotify will also strengthen Spotify’s ability to help brands and partners build amazing music experiences for their audiences.

“We’ve been fans of The Echo Nest for a really long time and honoured to have their talented team join Spotify,” said Daniel Ek, Founder and CEO, Spotify. “At Spotify, we want to get people to listen to more music. We are hyper focused on creating the best user experience and it starts with building the best music intelligence platform on the planet. With The Echo Nest joining Spotify, we will make a big leap forward in our quest to play you the best music possible.”

“Since founding The Echo Nest, Brian Whitman and Tristan Jehan have created a company completely and beautifully obsessed with understanding the world of music to help fans discover more music,” said Jim Lucchese, CEO of The Echo Nest. “Joining forces with Spotify gives us the opportunity to continue doing so as part of the fastest-growing service in the world; we’re thrilled to be part of a team equally as passionate about connecting more people with more music.”

The Echo Nest will continue to operate out of its headquarters in Somerville, MA where it has been a key component of the growing Boston-area tech scene. The Echo Nest will also continue to operate in San Francisco. The Echo Nest API will remain free and open to support its robust developer ecosystem. The developer community is crucial to the success of both Spotify and The Echo Nest and will remain a priority for the combined companies.


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