Rdio acquires TastemakerX to replace The Echo Nest

Rdio announced the acquisition of TastemakerX, a music intelligence company which will effectively replacing The Echo Nest as Rdio’s song-recommendation provider. The Echo Nest was bought by Spotify in March (see our interview with CEO Jim Lucchese here), and Rdio quickly announced a termination of its client relationship, not wanting the possibility of information leakage to competitor Spotify.

TastemakerX has operated as a public-facing music recommendation service which hooks into the user’s preferences, plays music from existing music services, and recommends related music.

TastemakerX CEO Marc Ruxin praised Rdio in his announcement: “Unlike many of the other players in the space, Rdio exists, in one way, as fiercely independent. It serves only the master of distributing a great music experience. Rdio really is a place for music lovers and we are thrilled to begin this next voyage.”

This acquisition is the latest in a string of positive announcements emanating from Rdio:

• March: Rdio acquired Indian music service Dhingana, saving it from closure and entering the Bollywood category.
• April: Rdio signed a distribution partnership with Grupo Bandeirantes, a large Brazilian media company.
• April: Rdio announced a sound-quality upgrade to high-rez audio throughout its 25-million song catalog.
• April: Rdio began ad-supported Internet radio listening, leveraging its relationship with cumulus Media to sell the ad inventory.
• May: Rdio announced an expansion to nine new countries, bringing its jinternational total to six continents and 60 nations.