Live Nation Acquires, Launches EDM Platform Boomrat [Take That, SFX!]
Concert giant Live Nation has no intention of ceding EDM to the aggressive team over at SFX. They've created festivals, invested in promoters and now are reaching out directly to fans of the genre. Founded in July of 2012 with the help of a $310,000 convertable note, EDM discovery platform Boomrat had not yet gone live when Live Nation quietly acquired the startup last August. Co-founders Ariel Lee and Andrew Silberstein then woodshedded in Live Nation Labs Hollywood HQ.
Launched yesterday, Boomrat curates EDM related content from more 300 blogs and streaming sites including SoundCloud. A trending chart pulling from the SoundCloud’s API will update hourly with YouTube data Set to be added soon. There are also playlists created by artists, DJs and fans which can be followed and shared.
“We relentlessly look for young, talented entrepreneurs to join Live Nation," EDM chief James Barton told Billboard. “We were delighted to acquire Boomrat and have co-founders Andrew and Ariel join our team, who are leading the next generation of the electronic dance business with some smart solutions and their first product.”
sounds like a great idea!
Thanks for the article, but one small pet peeve: Boomrat is not a “platform”, or at least not yet, as there are no third parties who use Boomrat as the basis of a new service. I may be in the minority, but I believe words matter. And in this particular case, cheapening the word “platform” is a disservice to those who actually create platforms, as the effort involved, and the value created, is significantly greater than a standalone service.