When Robb McDaniels, Beatport Chairman & CEO, announced in September that the Beatport platform would expand into open-format genres – hip-hop, R&B, pop, Latin, Caribbean, and African – our immediate question wasn’t “why?” but “what happens to Beatsource?” After all, that’s what Beatsource does – and of course, both brands are owned by the same company.
The answer, buried in careful corporate language, is that a merger is on the cards. But strip away the worries that subscribers to both platforms may have about this, and what seems the obvious outcome of all of this is potentially the best news DJs have had in years: one subscription, one interface, everything you need.
Er, what happens to Beatsource then?
McDaniels insists Beatsource “will remain available for open-format DJs and will continue to offer exclusive DJ edits and remixes”. But honestly, that’s pretty specific language! Not “Beatsource will continue as your go-to platform” or “Beatsource remains central to our strategy” – just that it’ll keep offering those exclusive edits.
Because let’s state the obvious: once Beatport offers the same hip-hop, R&B, pop, Latin, Caribbean, and African catalogue that Beatsource does, what’s the point of maintaining two separate streaming services? Both run on identical technology. Both cost similar amounts. Both integrate with similar DJ software. The value proposition for keeping them separate has gone. And that’s actually… fine.
What DJs would gain from a merger
For years, DJs wanting to support a “DJs first” streaming service/download store have faced an annoying choice: subscribe to Beatport for electronic music, or Beatsource for open-format, or – if you’re serious about covering all bases – pay for both. At £30-35/month each, that’s a big commitment. Also, with DJs increasingly playing multi-genres, even electronic DJs, the enforced separation between them is starting to look a little anachronistic.
So what happens if Beatport and Beatsource merge? One platform would do it all. Electronic DJs who occasionally want to drop a hip-hop track or Latin banger no longer need a separate subscription. Open-format DJs who want to explore house or techno get access to the world’s deepest electronic catalogue without additional cost. Having 12 million tracks across every conceivable genre in one searchable, streamable interface is clearly better than having them split across two platforms with separate logins, separate libraries, and separate billing.
The elephants in the room
There’s quite possibly a more urgent reason behind this consolidation that McDaniels doesn’t mention: Apple Music and Spotify have entered DJ territory, and they’re potentially massive threats.
Both mainstream services are now integrated into major DJ software. These platforms offer 100+ million tracks for £10-15/month – a fraction of what Beatport or Beatsource charge – and most people already subscribe to one of them for personal listening. The pitch writes itself: “Why pay separately for DJ music when the streaming service you already use works in your DJ software?”
Beatport and Beatsource, separately, can’t answer that question as effectively as if they were together. Split, they’re niche services for specific DJ types. Combined? They can offer something which once again becomes compelling: a comprehensive, truly DJ-centric platform with exclusive content, proper DJ edits, specialist curation, and integration designed specifically for performance. That’s a value proposition that can better justify £30/month against mainstream alternatives.
The challenge: merging two cultures
Here’s the tricky bit. Beatport and Beatsource aren’t just different catalogues – they represent fundamentally different DJ cultures.
Beatport grew from European club culture, first as a download store (which it still is) and then a streaming service, built around independent labels and underground producers. It has had its ups and downs, but its strength remains depth in electronic sub-genres: 36+ categories of house, techno, trance, drum & bass, each with specialist curation.
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Beatsource, on the other hand, came from DJcity, the Los Angeles record pool that’s served open-format DJs for two decades. It’s built nowadays on relationships with major labels and the craft of creating DJ-specific edits – clean versions, extended intros, transition tools, acapellas. It’s radio culture, mobile DJ culture, club night culture where you need everything from Motown to today’s chart hits.
Trying to merge these without alienating either community would be like trying to combine a craft beer festival with a nightclub bottle service operation. Both serve alcohol, but the cultures couldn’t be more different.
Behind the scenes, it gets messy…
There’s also the logistical issue. Beatport’s catalogue is fragmented across thousands of independent labels with individual contracts. Beatsource’s comes primarily from the major labels – Universal, Sony, Warner – with their own complex licensing arrangements.
Add Beatsource’s exclusive DJ edits with their different rights arrangements and revenue splits, then try integrating all of this while maintaining separate charts (the announcement promises open-format tracks won’t appear in Beatport’s main Top 100, although – and for me, this is what really gave the game away – teased an Open Format Top 100 coming soon). That’s a lot of backend work!
Taken together, these reasons would explain why they’re likely to roll it out gradually and keep their cards close to their chest as they do.
The evolution of Beatsource
Let’s be clear: Nobody has told me anything official here – this is simply based on my deep industry knowledge and understanding. Yet I’d be staggered if what I’ve just outlined isn’t exactly what happens. I think Beatsource will, at a point where the community is happy under one roof, quietly disappear as a brand.
Of course, Robb McDaniels was never likely to confirm this outright to me, but – speaking exclusively to Digital DJ Tips – he did tell me: “The addition of open-format genres to Beatport went extremely well and was well received by both communities, and we’re actively working to streamline our offering to the DJ community so they have one destination for all the content, tools and services.”
There it is: one destination. Realistically, Beatsource becomes a content brand within the Beatport ecosystem. The exclusive edits are valuable – they’re part of what differentiates a DJ service from consumer streaming platforms. DJcity’s curation expertise and marketing methods will surely be retained. But maintaining an entirely separate platform? That overhead becomes harder to justify.
Expect Beatsource to evolve into “Beatport Open Format” or similar, possibly with the exclusive edits integrated as a premium tier, and maybe with “Beatport Electronic” as the other half of the offering. Beatsource may survive as a label for a while, but the separate infrastructure won’t. And frankly? We don’t think DJs will mourn it. Some may mourn the loss of Beatsource’s distinct identity were they to drop the brand. But DJs certainly won’t miss having to maintain two subscriptions, two playlists, two offline libraries.
Finally…
If the Beatport Group pulls this off, DJs end up with exactly what they’ve needed, even if they didn’t know it: one platform, any genre, everything integrated, fewer compromises. More importantly, they get a unified service powerful enough to genuinely compete with Spotify and Apple Music on DJ-specific grounds – something neither Beatport nor Beatsource could do so well alone.
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Maybe the real question is whether the Beatport Group can execute the merge without breaking what made both platforms valuable, and whether they can move fast enough before the mainstream streaming giants potentially squeeze harder on the DJ market.
Phil Morse
