Beatport
hideLama AlFulaij | Robert Esnouf | Raoul-Edgar Paltzer | Christiano Mondolfo | Hector Vazquez-Aguilar
“Beatport is the best place to download dance music” – Tiesto
Introduction
About
Beatport is an online music store dedicated to dance and electronic music, as well as remixes. The web site can be used to find artist’s new songs, exclusive tracks and the most famous ones in various formats such as MP3, WAV and M4A, having more than 8000 labels and innumerous tracks added on a regular basis. This vast amount of songs, formats, artists and labels sets it apart from any competitor. The graphical user interface (GUI) uses Adobe Flash and a recent version of the same is needed to view the online store. Customers can buy songs individually, by albums or charts, including Beatport’s own ‘’ Top Ten’’ chart ranking, created by DJs. Beatport maintain a good relationship with the record labels that own the music they sell by paying them royalties.
History
- Beatport’s first version was released in January of 2004.
- In 2005, Beatport started making use of Traktor DJ studio software to run its web page layout.
- In February 2007, Beatport initiated the Beatport Player, which allowed users, with the use of Adobe Flash and HTML, to create personalized playlists from the web sites song preview catalog
- In August of the same year, Beatport established the Beatportal, which, as the name suggests, is used as a portal by users to submit reviews, news, podcasts, radio streams, photos and event listings to the website.
- March 2008, Beatport announced the Beatport Music Awards, where online voting determines the winners in different categories.
Facts
- Headquarters: Denver, Colorado
- European Headquarter: Berlin, Germany
- 110 Employees
- Privately Held; No information about sales volume/revenue/profit
- Anyone can access Beatport and download music from it (Its not an exclusive "Members-Only" website for DJ's)
- One pays online via any major credit cards or PayPal
The Market - Primarily DJ's
Beatport as Niche Market (i.e. DJ’s & Electronic Music)
Beatport is clearly the leader in its specific and targeted niche market of electronic music. It keeps its focus on the market of DJ’s and electronic music enthusiasts. As Jonas Tempel, the CEO of Beatport states in an interview “If I’m talking to someone who has no clue about DJs or electronic music culture my response is generally that Beatport is “iTunes for DJs”. However, it is more than that: ““Beatport connects DJs and fans with the music they love.”
(Image Above: The world famous DJ Bob Sinclair performing)
Beatport as a Long Tail Market
Beatport itself is a Long Tail market simply because it is more of a minority that deeply looks through this type of music. Within its Long Tail it creates another long tail market with very specific genres such as minimal that most people have never heard of and would never recognize and consider weird. The Long Tail market explains how there is a demand for relatively non-commercial/rare items. Although the demand for every individual item is not great, the sum of demand for all the items is profitable. Beatport works to exploit this demand for the electronic music.
Further expansion of Beatport's even smaller niche market will be created with the launching of "Beatsource". This will be the same concept as Beatport but directed more towards a music genre of hip-hop. In another interview with Jonas Tempel (CEO Beatport), he explains that " Beatsource was designed to represent the independent voice of urban music”.
Competitors
Its biggest competitor in terms of online music store is of course iTunes simply because of its size and sales volume. However, Beatport is not worried about iTunes simply because iTunes does not focus on Beatports niche market. As Beatport CEO says in another interview, iTunes is for the consumer market whereas Beatport is aimed at the DJ and electronic music lovers.
Other competitors that try and get themselves established as an online electronic music store simply are missing two key things where Beatport has a competitive advantage.
Firstly, Beatport has the so-called “First Mover Advantage”. Because Beatport was the first company in this niche online market it was able to build a strong reputation with many dedicated users and was also able to gain the confidence of many distinguished record labels. The other effect which this First Mover Advantage has had is that it allowed Beatport to grow to an enormous scale making it virtually impossible for other companies to compete.
The second very important aspect of Beatport is its Graphical User Interface (“GUI”), which online consumers regard as being the most user friendly. According to an interview with Eric Jordan, the Chief Creative Officer (COO) of 2Advanced Studios (a possible competitor of Beatport), his consumers constantly state or request for changes of their user interface to resemble more that of Beatport’s. The consumers write: “Well, Beatport does it like this…” or “I’d like to do something similar to how Beatport does it….”
Web 2.0
Beatport's Terms and Definitions
Beatport is a website which is seen as part of Web 2.0 era as it shares its characteristics. Beatport offers an easy search engine which allows to find hundreds of songs, albums, artists and more. There are several links and tasks which help find similar artists or songs. This site also gives the possibility to preview music and buy and download songs as podcasts and mp3.
Beatport and Web 2.0
- > Beatport is both a player and site which is entirely based in Flash. The Beatport Player was also the world’s first viral media player useable anywhere.
- > Users can create widgets from Beatport’s Top downloads, one of the 8000 labels they work with or from one the 275,000 songs available.
- > Visitors or users can browse, preview, purchase and download music, similarly to the iTunes Music Store. Their formats can be chosen from the traditional to the most recent types, such as podcasts.
- > Its robust search engine now allows users to find artists or songs of similar characteristics, by including, for example, the feature of ‘Users Also Bought’. Other useful features available are ‘My Beatport’, ‘Customized Weekly E-mails’, ‘Enhanced Top 10 Lists’ and ‘E-mail to a Friend’.
Competitive Advantage
Technological aspect
1. Beatport Sync:
Beatport Sync is a free audio player that anyone can download. What is special about it is that it has basic DJ functions. It let's the user mix tracks just like a DJ using two virtual decks: a crossfader and auto beat sync function. It also offers exceptional track management as well as access to DJ radio stations. It was developed by Beatport and Native Instruments.
2. Track ID
Track ID is this great technology that is becoming more common in the past couple of years. It detects songs and tells the user what the name of the song is, who the artist is, and which album it is from. It is especially great for dance music lovers since it is even harder to distinguish artists and songs. As opposed to normal songs which usually have a repeated chorus which corresponds to the song's name. But with Beatport it's perfect when you are in a club and you are dancing to this great song, and you decide you love it and must have it! Just have Beatport's "Track ID" listen to it, and there you have all the information about that song and even a direct link to download it.
3. "Users Also Bought" Function
The "Users also bought" function uses collaborative filtering to observe which songs it's customers are buying and look for those trends and apply it by recommending what they think other people would like to buy. This is a simple tool but a very powerful one for Beatport as it helps create new markets (see below).
Market Aspect
1. Vertical Integration (No inventory, supply chaining, etc.)
(Definition of Vertical Integration)
Beatport owns Final Scratch a software application that allows a DJ to carry thousands of songs on his laptop instead of carrying a bag of vinyl albums. The problem that arises is that most DJs still play vinyl and crowds like and expect to hear vinyl on the dancefloor. So, Final Scratch allows that to happen because "You can scratch and do all the tricks and techniques just like a turntable," says Temple, president and CEO of Outlook Music.
Another key to Beatport's success is its low or lack of inventory. Being a computer/internet based company allows it to sell products (songs) without having any inventory on the shelf.
2. Market Making
(Definition of Market making)
Beatport does this in three key ways. The first is with the creation of Beatsource which is soon to be released as previously discussed. This will target a whole new market segment that is fairly untouched even by iTunes. The second way in which Beatport creates markets is with its "user also bought" function as explained above. The last way how one could argue that Beatport is attempting to further expand and create markets is by offering their website in 7 different languages; previously there was only English as a language option. The fact that the site is available in more languages means that is more accessible for people all over the world. It shows how the world has become a "flatter playing field" as Beatport is easily able to target markets all over the world.
What about iTunes?
A lot of people might be thinking "Well isn't this just like iTunes?" or "What's the difference between Beatport and iTunes?" Beatport simply targets a completely different crowd in comparison to iTunes. Beatport focuses on a highly specialized and "non-commercial" form of music in which iTunes has little to no experience. iTunes target consumer is much more commercial and does not have enough emphasis on DJ's or electronic music fans. Beatport always has the newest and largest selection of this particular electronic music genre. In addition to this, iTunes can simply not compete with Beatports large selection of sub-genres of electronic music.
The main technical difference is that Beatport's DJ software has beat matching which iTunes does not. "If you're trying to keep people dancing, it helps to have the incoming song start in the same rhythm as the one that's already playing so people don't have to switch gears every time you play a new song."
Basic comparison of iTunes and Beatport with a table:
 |
|
The crowd is fairly mainstream and |
The crowd is looking for only electronic music. Mostly DJ's. |
| Little sub-genres of electronic music | 18 sub-genres of electronic music |
Not very up-to-date with new releases |
Almost all of the newest electronic music will first be released |
| ----------------------------------------------- | Technology focused on DJ's |
For simple steps to get started spinning with Beatport click here.
Beatportal and Beatwiki
Beatportal
May 28, 2007, Beatport launched a site for its community of customers to meet its goal of becoming the most relevant online resources for electronic music. Erskine had been working with Beatport since November 2006 to develop a social network application. This new network of Beatport costumers featured friendship connections, audio and video uploads, ratings, and the ability to make playlists of collected music. Erskine and Beatport’s work resulted in Beatportal.
Beatportal provides up to date information about the world of electronic music and offers news, reviews, podcasts, event listings, promotions, and videos. In essence, Beatportal is a Web 2.0 blog that provides users with a world of musical information. Beatport defines it as the fastest and most comprehensive electronic music news in the world.
Beatwiki
This is another part of Beatportal. Beatwiki is an index of over 70,000 artists and over 8,000 record labels. It is the largest editable database for electronic music online. This wiki is a collaborative project. Editors, bloggers, and volunteers help to add to the already extensive database.
Other Additions
Some of the newest additions to Beatportal include Beat Detect, its use of Twitter, and music recommendations. Beat Detect allows users to submit MP3 clips or Youtube videos to find out the name of the tracks from the Beatportal community. This is croudsourcing at its best because Beatportal relies on many users to collaborate and help the blog. Beatportal also provides users with music recommendations.
Horizontal Integration
This is the process of implementing additional business activity at the same level of the value chain. It can be achieved by internal or external expansions through merger or acquisitions. Beatportal and all of its content has enabled Beatport to become the one stop hub for all online electronic music activity. When costumers are interested in dance or electronic music, they must navigate to Beatport.
Sources
Gregorio. "Beatport Turns 5: Inside the mind of Jonas Tempel, CEO". Ibiza-Voice.com. <http://www.ibiza-voice.com/story/news/1613>. 27 February 2009.
Jordan, Eric. "2Advanced Studios rips off Beatport". Jason Richard's Blog. <http://blog.jasonrichard.com/2008/05/01/2advanced-rips-off-beatportcom/>. 25 February 2009.
Peacock, Ryan. "Demand for digital music keeps Beatport booming". Denver Business Journal. <http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2008/07/21/focus4.html>. 26 February 2009.
Skiles, Wesley. AllBusiness.com "Downloading the nightclub sound: Beatport lightens DJs' load". <http://www.allbusiness.com/north-america/united-states-colorado/754875-1.html>. 27 February 2009.
Van Buskirk, Eliot. "Two MP3s and a Microphone". Wired. <http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/commentary/listeningpost/2006/08/71538?currentPage=2>. 25 February 2009.
Beatportal. "In the hot seat: Beatport CEO Jonas Tempel". <http://www.beatportal.com/feed/item/on-the-hot-seat-beatport-ceo-jonas-tempel/>. 24 February 2009.
"Beatport". LinkedIn. <http://www.linkedin.com/companies/beatport>. 9 March 2009.
"Projects / BeatPortal". ErskineDesign. <http://www.erskinedesign.com/projects/beatportal/>. 26 February 2009.
"Beatportal". Beatportal. <http://www.beatportal.com/>. 26 February 2009.
"Beatport". Beatport. <https://www.beatport.com/en-US/html/content/home/detail/1/beatport>. 25 February 2009.
Beanport Comment:
By Brittney Silvestri
This is a very good start! You obviously need to fill in a few of the sections a bit more, but I like the content thus far and you are on the way to fulfilling all the requirements. My suggestions would be the following: 1. Add links to the names of your project members to their pages on the Wiki. 2. Tidy up the page and make it more organized. For example, make sure you have the same fonts for each section, in the same color, in the same format for easier reading. You switch from different formats for each paragraph, therefore, it would be more “reader friendly” if you picked one and standardized it for each section. 3. Make your “sources” section a bit more comprehensive by adding article names, authors, etc. instead of just providing the website.
contributed by Brittney Silvestri on Mar 7 9:31am
This is a very interesting topic and you did a good job explaining what its features are. One strength of this project is the use of various terms we learned throughout the semester. They are very relevant and this topic is a good example of all of them. One area that I see needs improvement is the competitive advantage section. While I was reading through it, certain parts are the same as iTunes (Users Also Bought=Genius) so my suggestion would be to talk about how BeatPort is gaining a competitive edge over iTunes, which is by far the biggest and most dominant music store in the world.
contributed by John Stoddard on Mar 9 10:36am
Good start! I really like the integration of the topics that were discussed in class, it makes this website a lot easier to understand. In terms of things to change, I agree with Brittney that the article should have more consistent formatting, this will make it a lot easier. Also, it would be beneficial to know why a service like this is needed, and maybe an example of when someone would use it, as I still don't really get what it is.
contributed by Allison Savage on Mar 9 12:44pm
This is a great overview of BeatPort. You seemed to have covered all the necessary topics and more. Like everyone else said, i like your use of class terms and how you relate them to this site. I really liked the DJ applications that allowed users to mix and scratch their own music. My main issue was that some of your content seems overly summarized. I get the general idea, but I am left with some questions like: is there a difference between Track ID and BeatDetect? How do users pay for the music? Do they have to be members? It would be great if you could fill in some of the details. I also like the idea of comparing and contrasting some BeatPort features to that of iTunes because I had iTunes on my mind as I was reading. Aside from that, great work and cool topic.
contributed by Anthony Ezenna on Mar 9 6:57pm
If you really wanted to get fancy, you could add some images of clubs, DJ's, and the general Beatport website layout.
contributed by Anthony Ezenna on Mar 9 6:59pm
This project is very straightforward and gives a great overview of how Beatport works. I really like how it is broken up into specific sections, which makes it easier to understand each of its components. I agree with some of the questions that Anthony has asked, so maybe you should give a little more in depth information about the logistics of how it makes profit regarding its competitive advantage. Also, pictures and videos would be an awesome addition. Other than that, great project.
-Dan Castillo
Lots of information here, you did a great job explaining what beanport is. You seem to really know your stuff. You did a good job integrating in terms discussed in class, but maybe if you spent less space defining the terms and maybe created links to a separate page for definitions, it would make the project much smoother. An example is with Web 2.0, where the majority of the section was merely a generic definition of 2.0 instead of more information about how Beanport is actually related to it. Same with the competitive advantages section. Other than that, very nice.
contributed by Michael Fernandes on Mar 9 10:14pm
Your page looks good so far. You do a good job of relating class terms to beatport. You should work on the organization of your page, so it reads smoother. Also, you should add more images and maybe a video, just to make it look more interesting.
contributed by Elyse Subatis on Mar 10 12:38pm
The page contains a lot of information and is organized well, but I feel like a few more pictures or embedded videos showing how the technology works would provide a good visual to go along with all the written information. However, the project is well researched and all the guidelines are met. There are plenty of instances where IT terms learned during the year were effectively applied to beatportal's strategy and success, which is the project's biggest strength. Its only apparent weakness is somewhat aesthetic, since the information is only given in words with no pictures, videos, or other visual descriptions. Also make sure to get all the sources you need, otherwise very good information.
contributed by Cezar Constantine on Mar 10 4:52pm
This page is very well organized. The page is divided into many small sections which allow the readers to read easily.There are also some interesting topics such as you discuss on the differences between itune and beatport. Nevertheless, I do agree with other people that you should make your page more interactive with some pictures or videos. Furthermore, I believe that you guys need more sources to fulfill the requirement. Otherwise, this is a very interesting page.
contributed by Shih-Yin Pan on Mar 11 1:25pm
This page is looking very good and i will take some of what i saw and try to use it to improve my group's project. You did a good job of explaining your topic and made me want to look into this site. I found some spelling errors in the Beatport Sync section and you should capitalize the T in iTunes in the competitive advantage section. Overall, i would just add more visual aids like videos or pictures. Very impressive.
contributed by Matthew Locke on Mar 11 5:04pm
This page looks real good. I have a good idea about what the company is all about which is real good. I would try to make the sources more organized, because of all the information I would have a hard time finding out what source you used for different parts of the page. I would also try to site in MLS format. In general I liked the page and think it's one of the best.
contributed by Mark Bogosian on Mar 12 9:18am
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