Beatport

Infobox Online music service
service_name = Beatport
service_
service_

opened = January, 2004
pricing = Variable
platforms = Cross-platform (web-based application)
interface = Adobe Flash Version 9
format = MPEG Layer 3 (.mp3) @ 320 kbit/s,
MPEG Layer 4 (.m4a),
WAVE Audio (.wav)
restrictions = None
catalogue =
preview = 2:00 minute MP3 previews @ 64 kbit/s
streaming =
burning_copying =
trial =
protocol = Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http://)
availability =
features = 6500+ Independent Labels, 275,000+ Songs
support = [http://beatportknowledgebase.com http://beatportknowledgebase.com] , [e-mail]
homepage = [https://www.beatport.com/ www.beatport.com]
footnotes =

Overview

Beatport is a US-based online music store located in Denver, Colorado that specializes in electronic music, dance music and remixes. Beatport offers new releases, classic and exclusive tracks, all of which are categorized by genre, such as house music, trance music and techno. Beatport's graphical user interface, or GUI, was created using Adobe Flash and version 9.0+ of the Adobe Flash plugin is required to view the Beatport store.

Visitors to Beatport can browse, preview, purchase and download music in a fashion similar to that of the iTunes Music Store. Purchases can be made as individual tracks or as bundled releases, albums or charts. 'Top Ten' charts are made available on Beatport by DJs and producers who provide lists of their favorite recommendations on a regular basis. Record labels on Beatport.com are paid on a royalty basis. Beatport can be accessed directly at [http://www.beatport.com www.beatport.com] or from within Traktor DJ Studio software.

Beatport recently launched a new store called Beatsource which is to specialise in urban music. Beatsource claims to be "the first legal online digital retailer specializing in the global sound of urban music." Beatsource uses the same Adobe flash Interface as its sister site Beatport.

History

The first version of Beatport, 1.0, launched in January 2004. The latest version, Beatport 3.0, was released in August 2006.

In 2005, Beatport was made accessible through a scaled-down GUI embedded within the popular DJ software, Traktor DJ Studio by Native Instruments. Native Instruments is listed as "proud partner" of Beatport.com. Beatport is also listed as a partner for the online music store Burnlounge.

In February 2007, Beatport launched a viral marketing web widget called the [http://www.beatportplayer.com Beatport Player] . Built using Adobe Flash and HTML, the MP3 player gives users the ability to create custom, dynamic playlists from Beatport's entire catalog of song previews. Users can embed customized Beatport Player widgets into nearly any HTML website.

In August 2007, Beatport launched a community-oriented music site, [http://www.beatportal.com Beatportal] , whose stated mission is "...to provide music lovers with up-to-date information about the world of electronic music" [ [http://www.beatportal.com Beatportal] ] . Registered Beatport users can submit news, reviews, podcasts, event listings, radio streams and photos to Beatportal.com.

In March 2008, Beaport introduced the Beatport Music Awards‏, voting begins on March 18. The following categories were announced:
*Breakbeat Artist
*Chill Out Artist
*Deep House Artist
*Drum & Bass Artist
*Dubstep Artist
*Electro House Artist
*Electronica Artist
*Hard Dance Artist
*Hardcore Artist
*House Artist
*Minimal Artist
*Progressive House Artist
*Psy-Trance Artist
*Tech House Artist
*Techno Artist
*Trance Artist
*Remix of 2007
*Single of 2007

Content

Currently listing more than 8000 labels with thousands of new tracks added each week, Beatport's entire catalog is available for download in MP3, M4A and WAV (44.1 kHz) formats. Beatport's MP3s are encoded at a bit rate of 320 kbit/s using the LAME codec while the M4A files are encoded at 192 kbit/s VBR, respectively.

Some tracks within Beatport's catalog cannot be purchased by some users due to territorial sales restrictions. These restrictions are the result of licensing agreements made between the original copyright owner and one or more record labels who negotiate sub-licenses to sell content within specific territories.

Awards

2007
*International Dance Music Awards ( IDMA ) - Best Dance Music Retailer
*International Dance Music Awards ( IDMA ) - Best Dance Music Specialty Retailer

References

*cite web |url=http://www.beatportal.com |title=Beatportal |publisher=Beatport, LLC |accessdate=2007-08-26
*cite web |url=http://dancemusic.about.com/od/conference/a/IDMA2k7Winners.htm |title=International Dance Music Award Winners|publisher=About, Inc., part of The New York Times company |accessdate=2007-08-27

External links

* [https://www.beatport.com/ Beatport 3.0 site]
* [https://www.beatsource.com/ Beatsource urban site]
* [http://www.beatportplayer.com/ BeatportPlayer.com - an embeddable flash mp3 player which accesses Beatport's music catalog]
* [http://www.beatportal.com/ Beatportal.com - Beatport's blog for industry news, reviews, podcasts, videos, event listings and more]
* [http://www.aboutdj.nl/content/view/416/2/ AboutDJ.nl: Beatport launches new site, Fully loaded 3.0]
* [http://www.365mag.com/index.php?pg=spec&recnum=483 365Mag Interview with CEO Jonas Tempel]
* [http://www.burnlounge.com/ Burnlounge]
* [http://www.native-instruments.com/index.php?id=traktor3_us/ Native Instruments' Traktor DJ Studio]
* [http://www.wmcon.com/events/idmas/index.htm IDMA - Winter Music Conference]