Spotify and The Echo Nest finally sealed the deal. The two major players in the emerging online music industry have partnered up on a number of projects in the past, so it’s not too surprising that Spotify announced today that they are acquiring The Echo Nest. The new firm will be focused both on music discovery for users and assisting brands and partners in creating better music experiences for their listeners.
Spotify statement
“We’ve been fans of The Echo Nest for a really long time and honoured to have their talented team join Spotify,” Spotify founder CEO Daniel Ek explained in a statement released earlier today. “At Spotify, we want to get people to listen to more music. We are hyper focused on creating the best user experience and it starts with building the best music intelligence platform on the planet. With The Echo Nest joining Spotify, we will make a big leap forward in our quest to play you the best music possible.”
Companies’ past history
According to analysts, Spotify and The Echo Nest have worked on a number of projects together. The companies integrated their APIs back in 2012 enabling Spotify app developers to access The Echo Nest’s music intelligence technology. In March 2013, Microsoft, Spotify and The Echo Nest partnered up to release Mixshape, an easy-to-use visual tool for sorting playlists based on characteristics and moods of individual songs.
The Echo Nest API to remain open source
The statement also noted The Echo Nest API will remain free and continue to be supported. The developer community is a big part of the success of both companies, and will remain a priority.
However, given that The Echo Nest technology is behind of Spotify’s competitors, including eMusic, MOG, VEVO, Twitter Music and Rdio, future decisions regarding the API could impact online music across the board. Media sources have sent queries to Spotify management asking for clarification regarding their future intentions for the API.
