Spotify signs deal with Dubset Media, which means more DJ mixes are likely to appear on the service
Spotify has signed a deal with Dubset Media that will enable the use of DJ mixes and remixes on the service whilst correctly allocating royalties.
This potentially opens the door for Spotify to let both professional and bedroom DJs upload their mixes to the service whilst accurately tracking which songs are being used and distributing the revenues accordingly.
It will be interesting to see what kind of impact the partnership may have in the near term, since it doesn’t seem like distribution services catering to unsigned artists are particularly well-equipped to dealing with the distribution of DJ mixes or remixes. So there is still a bit of a question mark as to how these new types of content will make their way onto the service.
Most likely, Spotify will be trialling using Dubset technology with mixes uploaded ad-hoc by well-known DJs before deciding to deploy it further.
Apple Music has signed a similar deal with Dubset just two weeks ago, signalling that this is an area of real interest to the industry.
Commenting on the deal, Stefan Blom, CSO and CCO at Spotify, stated: "Our number one job at Spotify is to deliver great music to fans whenever and wherever they want to listen to it. This deal with Dubset enables us to serve fans of dance music with the mixes they crave while ensuring that artists, labels and publishers get paid fairly. It's a great day for music fans all over the world."
Pat Shah, head of original content licensing at Spotify, added: "DJs have long been recognized as the greatest curators of music in the world. We look forward to working with Dubset and the biggest and best DJs in the world to continue to lead the industry by providing our consumers with the best content available in the market."
The only potential drawback of Dubset is that it is essentially a startup, and the history of b2b-focused music tech companies in recent years shows that when someone develops really great technology it isn’t long before interested buyers come knocking.
(Andrea Leonelli)