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Spotify acquires The Echo Nest to build a better music discovery engine

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Re: Spotify acquires The Echo Nest to build a better music discovery engine

#41

Post by radley »

grinich wrote: post #38

Really happy for these guys. :) I consulted with Norwest for technical due diligence during the last fundraising round[1], and was super impressed with what this team has built. Audio classification at scale is a really difficult thing to get right. They're also one of the few companies who have successfully navigated the minefield of the music business, which takes a painstaking amount of focus and determination. Bu…

But now they're just "Nextflix data". Let's revisit in a few years and see how open they still are.

Re: Spotify acquires The Echo Nest to build a better music discovery engine

#42

Post by radley »

transpy wrote: post #21

I had just started to dabble with python and echo nest (the remix API if I remember correctly) and now I wonder if their system will still be available or if now it is going to be proprietary/closed.

I figure as long as Paul Lamere is around it will stay open.

Re: Spotify acquires The Echo Nest to build a better music discovery engine

#43

Post by daturkel »

I was a QA intern at Echo Nest in Somerville over the summer and was super surprised to see this today! They're a really a fantastic and fun group of people and doing incredible work, having a fun time while they do it.

(Speaking, naturally, only my own opinions here:) I'm excited for the possibilities of growth that it'll offer the company, but also a little nervous about how it'll affect the Nest's ability to serve their other (previous?) clients. I personally signed on with Rdio because I loved the deep Echo Nest integration—I hope that's not going anywhere.

Looking hopefully, but anxiously, towards the future.

Re: Spotify acquires The Echo Nest to build a better music discovery engine

#44

Post by aggronn »

hammock wrote: post #35
aggronn wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? How would that help last.fm users?

Last.fm has a great neighbor-based recommendation engine. Combine that with Echo Nest's user-based machine learning approach and Spotify's user base, and you have a pretty robust product

As a grooveshark user who loves last.fm, i don't like this idea.

Re: Spotify acquires The Echo Nest to build a better music discovery engine

#45

Post by circa »

darylfritz wrote: post #13

This frightens me. I'm a big Rdio fan and they use Echo Nest as their backend. Has Spotify just found a way to secretly shut them down?

I was thinking the same thing. I love Rdio and I cannot stand Spotify's UI or making everything a playlist.

Re: Spotify acquires The Echo Nest to build a better music discovery engine

#46

Post by al2o3cr »

antocv wrote: post #8

Spotify and similar disservices mean death to a culture of music. Like Carthage, it is my opinion that Spotify and the music /industry/ founded on copy-theft must be burned down.

Given that "the death of music" has been variously predicted to be caused by sheet music, player pianos, radio, home cassette tapes, MTV, MP3s, Napster, CD-Rs, Bittorrent etc I think Spotify may need to get in line...

Re: Spotify acquires The Echo Nest to build a better music discovery engine

#47

Post by hellbanTHIS »

darylfritz wrote: post #13

This frightens me. I'm a big Rdio fan and they use Echo Nest as their backend. Has Spotify just found a way to secretly shut them down?

That would suck, but I think what makes Rdio the best of the bunch is it's people-powered discovery system. I don't use the Stations feature and it would probably do just fine without it.

Re: Spotify acquires The Echo Nest to build a better music discovery engine

#48

Post by sizzle »

tunesmith wrote: post #25
antocv wrote: post #8

Spotify and similar disservices mean death to a culture of music. Like Carthage, it is my opinion that Spotify and the music /industry/ founded on copy-theft must be burned down.

I've felt the same but the syllogism path is hard to explain. Basically, many of these services are founded the same way Amazon was founded - completely unsustainable and then hoping something magic happens to make it sustainable later. Amazon wouldn't have survived without the dotcom scene going crazy and they barely got through to the other side. The music services exist by seeking to convince end users that they a…

Ihat's why I listen to soundcloud exclusively. The artists there have very original material and you can see the music they are liking, playlists they are curating, and general community engagement.

Re: Spotify acquires The Echo Nest to build a better music discovery engine

#49

Post by kpennell »

diydsp wrote: post #23
antocv wrote: post #8

Spotify and similar disservices mean death to a culture of music. Like Carthage, it is my opinion that Spotify and the music /industry/ founded on copy-theft must be burned down.

It's too bad you were downvoted to oblivion, but a more reasoned response might have nurtured more conversation. Anyway, having read lots of social theory on music, I'll bite. Go ahead and tell more. Specifically, death relative to what culture? It's my opinion music as a practice before the sedentary age of agriculture will probably never be recovered. It is currently just as subject to capitalistic practice as heal…

"never soothes or nurtures us"...

I feel like I'm drowning in good music now thanks to the net. Soothed, nurtured, confused, educated, lifted...there's no limit to the number of verbs that the plethora of music I have access to now does to me.

Re: Spotify acquires The Echo Nest to build a better music discovery engine

#50

Post by kpennell »

antocv wrote: post #8

Spotify and similar disservices mean death to a culture of music. Like Carthage, it is my opinion that Spotify and the music /industry/ founded on copy-theft must be burned down.

Please answer: http://www.quora.com/Spotify/Is-Spotify-good-for-artists-and...
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