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Rdio buys TastemakerX

By | Published on Tuesday 1 July 2014

TastemakerX

With the subscription streaming services still mainly competing with the “my discovery tool is better than your discovery tool” marketing line (exclusive content isn’t due to become the main differentiator in music streaming until August 2015), Rdio has acquired TastemakerX, according to VentureBeat.

TastemakerX was originally a streaming service in its own right which set out to turn music discovery into a game. It has since integrated with other streaming platforms, including Spotify and YouTube, and has been gathering all sorts of user data along the way that can be used to fuel discovery services.

Though its not clear whether Rdio sees TastemakerX as a new source of music taste data, perhaps to fill the gap left by it ending its relationship with The Echo Nest after that company’s acquisition by Spotify, or perhaps Rdio bosses reckon the TastemakerX team can help it develop discovery tools that outperform those of its rivals. Possibly both.

Certainly the albeit small TastemakerX team will join Rdio as part of the acquisition, with its founder, Marc Ruxim, becoming the company’s COO. He told VentureBeat: “We’re interested in finding a balance between algorithmic and person-to-person sharing. Navigating a [music] discovery mechanism through people is super helpful, and it’s something we’ve always admired about Rdio”.



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