Rdio will terminate its relationship with The Echo Nest

In what could be described as the first crack in The Echo Nest‘s music-powering empire, Rdio CEO Anthony Bay told CNBC that his music service would end its relationship with the music-data company. The Echo Nest was acquired by Spotify last week, and Bay indicated in an interview that he didn’t want Rdio user metrics to be visible to Spotify, one of its primary competitors.

In RAIN’s conversation with The Echo Nest CEO Jim Lucchese on the day the Spotify acquisition was announced, Lucchese stated his intent and promise to honor all client obligations, even as The Echo Nest became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Spotify. That commitment was doubtless a relief to the over-400 media platforms powered (in whole or in part) by the Echo Nest’s data intelligence. The company’s API (Application Programming Interface), the software which gives media brands the ability to customize The Echo Nest’s immense store of music data, will remain open and available to outside companies, as before.

On the other hand, as reflected in Rdio’s perspective, The Echo Nest’s new position as a component of a major music service could unglue its existing clients, as well as open the space for competitors. Anthony Bay did not announce any new or prospective music-data partners.