Rdio To Exit Echo Nest After Spotify Acquisition, New Data Competitors Emerge

Streaming music service Rdio will stop using the music intelligence services of The Echo Nest since it has been aqcuired by Spotify. Saharing data with its competitor was the primary reason sited for the move by Rdio CEO Anthony Bay in an interview on CNBC.  

"As far as we are concerned, they were a good partner, but we have other good partners and we'll move on," Bay told CNBC. "We, probably like most people, have multiple sources of data that we use. So we will stop using that source of data and use other sources."

Rdio remains a top tier competitor, according to the CEO. "There's only about three companies offering this kind of service on a global basis, so in that category, it's our goal to be the best," he said. "A lot of our emphasis is on the global market." Bay said music on smartphones was the primary driver of growth.

New Music Intelligence Platform Hopes To Fill The Void

Meanwhile, other music streamers are also scrambling to replace The Echo Nest's music intelligence now that it's firmly in enemy hands; and new competitors are emerging to provide it. Musikki, first created as a real-time IDMB for music, says they're releasing a robust music data API next month. "It's based on the knowledge we used building Musikki," CEO and Co-Founder Joao Afonso wrote early Wednesday morning. "All Spotify competitors won’t have to wait long for a complete solution."    

Other sources like Kevin Arnold's OpenAura are also gearing up to deliver content and data to music services.