How to enter the electronic music world on the Internet ?

My response would be one word : Beatport.

 

 

Beatport is an online music store whose offices are based in Denver, Colorado.

The specificity and originality of Beatport is that this website is specialized in electronic music.

Of course, you can find electronic music tracks in others online music store like iTunes Music Store for example, or in the websites of the shops who commercialize cultural goods like Virgin Megastore or FNAC. But it’s often limited to mainstream electronic music, and the number of tracks proposed isn’t as important as on Beatport.

I like Beatport because it doesn’t consider electronic music as one and only music style, but as a music family which gathers many other styles : Drum & Bass, Techno, Trance, Minimal, House… In total, twenty-four music styles are offered to the visitor.

In this website, you can browse, preview, purchase and download music. The tracks are classified by music styles, artists and labels. Beatport gathers many labels from countries all over the world, which allows the visitors to discover new artists. Indeed, the tool present you a selection of releases according to the tracks you listen and you buy. You can also consult the “top ten charts”, in which DJs and producers provide the lists of their favourite recommendations. 

This is the home page of the website, that I find very “user-friendly” :

 

But Beatport is not only an online music store. It has created other tools for electronic music lovers, and the brand has converted itself in a life-style provider. For example, in February 2007, Beatport launched the Beatport Player, a viral marketing web widget. With this MP3 player, you can create dynamic playlists from Beatport’s catalog of songs. And you can also customize your player. In August 2007, Beatport continued to expand by lauching a community-oriented music site, Beatportal, providing up-to-date information about the world of electronic music. In this website, you can find party reports, event listings, podcasts, forums,… And in March 2008, Beatport introduced the Beatport Music Awards, prizing DJs and producers for their work, in every music style category proposed by the website.

For all those reasons, I consider Beatport as a huge tool for those who want to enter the electronic music world on the Internet.

And for people who don’t appreciate electronic music, Beatport recently launched a news online music store, Beatsource, dedicated to urban music.