Beatport has built itself as a digital store for creators and fans of electronic music, but now parent company SFX Entertainment seems poised to add a streaming component. The Beatport website will reportedly have free, ad-supported, on-demand streaming starting early next year, sources told The Wall Street Journal (paywall). WSJ said that SFX is still in licensing talks with labels to add that feature, but it likely won’t need to pursue the full catalogs of the majors; more than 90% of its tracks come from indie labels.
The existing store will be transitioned to the new Beatport Pro site, which is already live and in beta. In addition to the streaming component, Beatport is expected to serve a community forum role. It will share artist profiles, event information, and possibly streams of live shows. WSJ mused that this expanded role could leverage the assets from the recently-acquired Listn, a social listening app.