After a lengthy run that lasted over a decade, playlist-driven streaming service 8Tracks has announced that they’ll be ending their service on December 31.
The lifespan of another streaming service has seemingly run its course as just after Christmas, 8Tracks Founder David Porter published a post on the website’s blog to announce that the service would be shutting down on December 31. This ends a run that lasted over a decade for the company focused on bringing playlists to the masses.
Originally founded in 2006 during the early days of Web 2.0, 8Tracks officially launched in 2008 with a mission of bringing curated playlists to music lovers of all types while also allowing them to create their own. Users could search for playlists centered around different moods and follow their favorite labels like Armada Music or other tastemakers to hear some deeper cuts as well via their website or apps on mobile devices.
The wave of other streaming services, mostly Spotify with their mobile offering that launched in 2013 and exponential growth, ended up being one of the major blows to 8Tracks. As Spotify continued its rise to the top of the streaming market with a full list of services that included playlists in tow, it became more difficult for 8Tracks to continue to gain ground in the market.
“We lost listenership, in large part, because Spotify was able to satisfactorily address listener needs for music discovery and activity- and mood-based listening over time, as it improved its offering, reducing the relative appeal of 8tracks’ early lead in delivering on its unique value propositions through a crowd-curated model.”
– David Porter
From there, the increased cost of royalties and shrinking userbase led to more issues for 8Tracks. Unable to pay back royalties, hire new staff members, or explore innovative ways to find areas it could grow, after their search for potential investors came up empty they’ve been forced to shutter. “To state it simply, we’re shutting down because we can’t generate enough revenue, at our current scale, to cover royalties that continue to increase,” David Porter wrote in the post.
If you used 8Tracks as your streaming service, don’t fret because your playlists are still safe. Those who used the platform can transfer their playlists to Spotify via their website and will also receive an email including the mix name, art, description, and tracklist for each one.
Did you use 8Tracks? Let us know in the comments below!
h/t: Billboard
