As the album gets lost in a digital blur, fan-created playlists are taking center stage. That spells opportunity for startups that can spin the concept creatively - and profitably - enough. But anyone playing in playlisting is also playing with heavyweights like Apple and Imeem, as well as innovators like Mercora and Project Playlist.
Against that competitive backdrop, bootstrapped startup 8tracks (8tracks.com) is now rumbling. The company involves ex-Live365ers David Porter and Rags Gupta (advisory board member), both of whom are well-versed in do-it-yourself radio station streaming.
That experience includes all of the licensing nuances and headaches that come with non-interactive, streaming playlists and stations, a tricky terrain. Live365 packages those playlists into personalized, broadcast stations, an approach that is clearly influencing the model at 8tracks.
But instead of more complicated stations, 8tracks is focused on shorter playlists, and encouraging sharing, commenting, and 2.0-style redistribution. The site allows users to upload MP3s to create shareable playlists, or access songs from the 8tracks library. "While Last.fm and Pandora are great, there's something unique and appealing about hand-crafted playlists, and the idea with 8tracks is to put a simple tool into the hands of those with the knowledge and time to create great mixes," Porter told Digital Music News.
And, unlike spicier rivals like Project Playlist, 8tracks is playing a more by-the-books strategy. Unfortunately, that raises a host of inconvenient limitations related to streaming playback, though 8tracks is uninterested in a potentially crushing lawsuit.
In fact, the team also appears to be sidestepping massive upfront licensing costs generally imposed by majors, thanks to a non-interactive structure. "Since the experience is programmed, essentially non-interactive (not on-demand), we can take the compulsory license, which while not cheap, is about one-fifth the price of what the on-demand services have to pay," Porter explained.
The site, currently in private beta at 8tracks.com, is scheduled to launch in August.
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