NIGHTLIFE MUSIC’S DEAL WITH SPOTIFY COULD CHANGE MUSIC IN VENUES

Brisbane-based Nightlife Music has signed a deal with global streaming giant Spotify, which it says could revolutionise the way music is consumed in public spaces – including pubs and clubs.

Nightlife Music and Spotify have collaborated on an app that allows Spotify’s users to listen to their favourite songs in clubs, pubs, casinos, restaurants, bars, gyms, cruise ships and even at major sporting events.

A world first, the app is expected to roll out globally after the Australian launch.

Called crowdDJ, the app operates like a virtual jukebox, allowing users to tap into the playlist of a venue they are visiting and make music selections from their Spotify account where the two lists overlap.

“Once upon a time you would walk into a pub and put money into a jukebox,” said Nightlife Music Managing Director Mark Brownlee. “Now you simply open an app and pick a song to play in the venue.”

It’s an easy setup. After downloading the crowdDJ app, visitors to a venue can check out the place’s playlist, search for songs and then request tracks via the app.

  

Mark Brownlee and Tim De Souza, founders of Nightlife Music

As the country’s premier provider of curated playlists, Nightlife creates and supplies the soundtracks for the Star and Crown casinos, the Merivale group of bars and restaurants, pubs operated by Woolworths and Coles, P&O cruises and gym chains operated by Snap, Virgin and Fitness Anytime.

Nightlife playlists are heard in more than 5000 venues around Australia, including numerous clubs, both large and small.

The crowdDJ app has also been trialled at major sporting events like the cricket and Rugby Sevens tournaments providing low cost interactive and highly engaging entertainment between games.

Sweden-based Spotify has over 100 million users globally, including 40 million paying customers. Michael Richardson, Spotify’s head of Business Development Asia-Pacific said “Nowhere else in the world can people choose their own music in a venue by connecting through their Spotify account. And if they like what they hear, they can take the playlist home with them.”

“This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of our collaboration with these guys.”

The crowdDJ app – which Brownlee says was five years and $10 million worth of R&D in the making – has already been rolled out in more than 250 Anytime Fitness clubs. Nightlife says more than 600,000 tracks have been selected each month, of almost 4 million in total since it was released.

According to Brownlee, music streaming is on the brink of overtaking direct downloads and CD purchases in terms of generating revenue.

“Music streaming is about to reach a tipping point around the world,” he said. “In many respects, Napster killed off the record company business model, and now technology looks set to be its saviour.”