We’ve always been big fans of Mixcloud. Maybe it’s because it started out at the same time as us in 2010, or because we’ve both witnessed similar meteoric growth (Mixcloud now has 200,000 recordings uploaded a month to its streaming platform, Digital DJ Tips now has 400,000 unique visitors a month to its content).
But most likely, it’s because Mixcloud – which today celebrates its fifth birthday – combines the best bits of specialist radio (knowledgeable curators cutting through the crap and getting to the good stuff, fast) with the advantages of streaming (play on demand, anywhere). For smart DJs, following real labels, DJs and show producers you trust on Mixcloud has become one of the best ways of getting a headful of new music reliably and quickly, week after week.
Of course, us DJs want creative outlets for our music, too, and we all know the perils of uploading our mixes to SoundCloud and other services not specifically designed for the purpose. This is another key thing we love about Mixcloud: It’s designed with DJs in mind, It’s legal, and uploading your mixes to Mixcloud is not going to result in scary copyright emails and the whole lot suddenly disappearing without warning at some unspecified time in the future. In short, as a platform for showcasing your work to the world, it’s the best we’ve currently got.
So we’re taking this opportunity to wish a happy fifth birthday to Mixcloud, and wish it (and us!) another equally successful five years.
• Mixcloud has done one of those “look how our homepage has changed over the years” posts, and you can see it here.
Do you use Mixcloud? What are your experiences with it? What would you like to see from the platform over the next five years? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Phil Morse
