Mixcloud is a popular British online music

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

service that allows for the listening and distribution of radio shows,

DJ mix A DJ mix or DJ mixset is a sequence of musical tracks typically mixed together to appear as one continuous track. DJ mixes are usually performed using a DJ mixer and multiple sounds sources, such as turntables, CD players, digital audio players ...

es and

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

s, which are

crowdsource Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digit ...

d by its registered users. In April 2018, Mixcloud announced that it raised $11.5 million from WndrCo LLC, a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

based in Los Angeles and San Francisco that invests in media and technology businesses for the long term. The financing will fund Mixcloud's expansion globally.

History

Mixcloud was founded as a

startup company A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

through the

lean startup Lean startup is a methodology for developing businesses and products that aims to shorten product development cycles and rapidly discover if a proposed business model is viable; this is achieved by adopting a combination of business-hypothesis-dr ...

process in 2008 by Nikhil Shah and Nico Perez, who met at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. Developers Mat Clayton and Sam Cooke were added to the team in its early stages. As of 2012, Mixcloud was reported to have over 3 million active users and over 500,000 registered

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

application users. In October 2017, Mixcloud signed direct licensing agreement with Warner Music.

Features

Mixcloud allows all users to browse and stream audio content uploaded on its site. Registered users can upload content such as radio shows, DJ mixes and

s, as well as promote and distribute their content through Mixcloud's own

social networking A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...

widget. As of November 2011, Mixcloud lifted its 100-megabyte limit on uploaded content and allows uploads of 500 megabytes. Registered members may join a group, a collection of other users who share a common interest, which will periodically update the user when new content related to the group is available. Mixcloud also provides an

API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...

which users can search, upload and embed its content. Users may also share podcasts and mixes via Facebook or

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, an ...

. Mobile apps are available for both Android and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

. In December 2018, Mixcloud announced a new form of subscription called "fan-to-creator". Thanks to this feature subscribers can support a favourite artist directly and contribute to the licensing cost of the music played in the shows. This innovation is an attempt by the company to find a new ways of funding.

Legality

Mixcloud prohibits its users from downloading audio content from its website for licensing reasons. Co-founder Nikhil Shah commented on this restriction: "Not offering downloads has been a challenge for us in terms of persuading the content creators to use a platform like ours." He also compared Mixcloud to the model of its competitor

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary software, proprietary Swedish Streaming media, audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with ...

: "So it's very similar to the Spotify model. Spotify's competitor is illegal downloading and they are trying to cannibalise illegal downloading by offering a streaming-only and superior alternative." According to Mixcloud's main website, the platform is licensed only to provide its audio content through streaming, such that royalties are attributed to their respective artists. Mixcloud also requires its users to attribute their audio uploads with correct Artist and Song

metadata Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...

in order to preserve

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, c ...

rights.

References

{{Music digital distribution platforms Internet properties established in 2008 Online music and lyrics databases DJ mixes Music streaming services British music websites 2008 establishments in England

History

Features

Legality

See also

Similar services

References