Spotify, by far the biggest streaming provider in the world, is to stop supporting all DJ software as of July, says Algoriddim, the maker of djay, in an announcement today.
While the news is not exactly surprising (the bigger picture is that we’ve seen Tidal, SoundCloud and Beatport all arrive in DJ software in the past year, but there have been no new developments from Spotify at all), it is definitely a shame, because Spotify is the de facto streaming service of choice for so many people.
However, it leaves users of djay – one of two DJ apps that currently features Spotify, and by far the biggest – with an imminent problem (assuming they currently use the Spotify option, of course).
One solution if djay users want to carry on using a streaming service is to transfer to Tidal or Soundcloud Go!+, both of which are supported by djay. An extra benefit of doing this is that these two services are rapidly becoming ubiquitous in DJ software, so arguably they are a safer bet longer-term anyway.
How to switch from Spotify to Tidal or SoundCloud Go+
Algoriddim has today published simple procedures that users can follow to transfer their playlists from Spotify to either Tidal or SoundCloud Go+ for free, using a third-party service called Tune My Music, which I talk you through in the video above.
Tune My Music is actually a broader service that allows you to transfer your playlists between all types of online streaming services – it’s a bit like RekordBuddy, but for streaming services. The links here, though, are streamlined to make it easy to make those particular switches:
Click here to transfer your playlists from Spotify to Tidal with Tune My Music
Click here to transfer your playlists from Spotify to SoundCloud Go+ with Tune My Music
Note the following points:
- You’ll need a paid subscription to your new streaming service of choice – although both have free trials, and Algoriddim is offering a three-month trial of Tidal
- Your new streaming service may not be available in your territory – so you’ll need to check
- Your new streaming service may not have exactly the same tunes available to you – although both have huge libraries so you should be alright with the vast majority
- Neither of these streaming services are exactly like Spotify – and that may actually benefit you (for instance, SoundCloud Go+ has loads of awesome “unsigned” and underground music, and Tidal has video content you can use)
- Tune My Music isn’t the only transfer service in town – if for whatever reason Tune my Music doesn’t cut it for you, another popular choice for achieving this is a similar service called Soundiiz
So, should I do this?
It is important before jumping in that you think this through, because this is your chance to make a decision that you’ll probably live with for years. So let’s take a look at some of the factors that should be included in your thinking.
Firstly, we’d advice you not to do anything lightly – especially if you’ve been a happy and frequent Spotify users for a long time.
However, three months (which is the free trial period for Tidal offered) in particular is long enough for you to decide whether you think you can switch entirely to that service. You could run Spotify and Tidal concurrently from now until July, and iron out any issues while you have both services. One advantage of Tidal is that for the first time in djay, you can DJ with streaming video via Tidal’s catalogue.
Or, you may decide to give SoundCloud Go+ a try – after all, it is known for its deep catalogue of tracks from underground producers that is unrivalled anywhere else, and again, there’s a free trial (albeit only of a month) – but of course, that doesn’t stop you subscribing to both until you are sure of your decision. One advantage here is that you can analyse your playlists ahead of time with djay and SoundCloud – something you don’t get in Tidal.
Ultimately, you may decide you want to abandon Spotify entirely, to save paying two subscriptions – although it would be a decision made slightly harder by the fact that, if I had to bet on which of Tidal, SoundCloud or Spotify were still in business in five years, my money would be on Spotify…
What about Apple Music and Beatport Link?
Which brings us to a couple of other services that should be on your longer-term radar if you’re interested in the future of streaming in DJ software generally – the other monster, Apple Music, and plucky newcomer, Beatport Link.
Apple Music has never been in any DJ software, but with Apple’s professed bias towards creators, that seems curious to us. If it were to appear as an option in DJ software, it would quickly become the standard in our view, because of the tight existing integration betwen iTunes/Music, Apple Music and DJ software. There’s no sign of this, but it doesn’t stop us imagining…
(And while we’re speculating, it’s always occurred to me that if Apple were to buy a DJ app maker, it’d be Algoriddim, whose apps have always felt very “Apple” – how cool would it be to have djay given away for free with all new Macs, a bit like GarageBand?)
Finally, it’s only a matter of time before Beatport’s play for this space, Beatport Link, rolls out further. Currently only available in Rekordbox and WeDJ (two Pioneer apps), we reckon we’ll be seeing it in other DJ apps soon enough – and it boasts a catalogue with lots of DJ-friendly mixes that you won’t find elsewhere. You may want to hold out and see if that appears in djay soon – although we have no word on that.
So what’s that other app that uses Spotify, then?
You may not even have heard of it, but it’s called Pacemaker, and it models itself as “the easy to use DJ app for Spotify”.
It’s a much smaller but compelling little iPhone app, that majors on automixing, but also lets DJs share mixes using Spotify metadata and proprietary data to avoid copyright issues. It appears that this decision will also be a severe blow for that app. I’ve reached out to them for comment and will update here as/when I have news.
Are you affected by this? Got any questions about transferring your library? What ar you going to do when this happens? Please share your thoughts and ask any questions below – we’ll do our best to help.
Phil Morse
