Is this the Re-Birth of Radio? 📻
Amazon Music dropped DJ Mode for users, which allows them to listen to commentary from their favourite artists over streamed music.
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What’s up people?
Yesterday, Amazon Music dropped DJ Mode 🎧, a brand new, on-demand listening experience that combines the personalization, control, and breadth of the catalog of streaming, with the vibrancy and personality of DJ-hosted radio—all in one destination.
Confused?
Think of listening to a playlist of your favorite artist, with commentary in the background from the artist themselves, explaining the inspiration behind that particular track or what went into producing it 🎬
Pretty cool right?
Steve Boom, VP of Amazon Music said in the press release announcing the feature:
“We’re continuing to revolutionize how listeners experience music, and with DJ Mode we’re combining the best of streaming and traditional radio. With DJ Mode, fans can stream music selected just for them, while enjoying the personality of DJ-hosted radio.
We’re also delighted that Billie Eilish is behind our first-ever artist-led DJ Mode experience, which gives fans access to her musical tastes and storytelling, hosted by one of the most innovative artists in the world.”
Check out how it works right here 👇🏻
Listeners in the U.S. can opt-in today to check out new, DJ-hosted stations across hip-hop, country, and pop, featuring music insights from industry experts and tastemakers, and drop-ins from top artists, plus music facts and trivia from Alexa.
These DJ Mode stations include song selection and sequencing personalized to listener tastes, and music commentary and storytelling that evolve with every listen as new music is released.
Fans can also now access the first-ever artist-led DJ Mode, The Billie Eilish Takeover, where the global superstar shares her inspirations and influences alongside her favorite songs and behind-the-scenes stories.
But how does it really work? If a user has Amazon’s Alexa, it could be as simple as:
Alexa, play Rap Rotation in DJ Mode 🔥
Rap Rotation Radio would feature the hottest tracks from Cardi B, Big Sean, Lil Yachty, and more, with commentary from esteemed hip-hop personality DJ Letty.
Alexa, play Country Heat in DJ Mode 🎸
Nashville country music radio host Kelly Sutton hosts Country Heat Radio in DJ Mode, which features some of the artists behind Nashville’s most important music including Maren Morris, Chris Stapleton, and Thomas Rhett.
Alexa, play All Hits in DJ Mode 📈
Amazon Music’s senior pop music programmer DJ Karen Wild would take listeners through the biggest songs in the world with All Hits Radio in DJ Mode. Hear from artists such as The Weeknd, Saweetie, and Bruno Mars, alongside the stories behind the tracks, featuring voices of the artists who created them.
Sounds pretty cool right?
This is arguably a counter to Apple Music's radio stations, which serve as a DJ-curated complement to the on-demand service. In both cases, they're encouraging you to discover and take an interest in music where a plain playlist might not be engaging.
Amazon is taking a different approach, though.
Apple's radio is more traditional, with live elements and lots of hosted segments. Amazon, meanwhile, is treating DJ Mode more as a supplement that adds radio-like qualities to the content that already exists.
Our take on this? 🤔
I personally am still biased towards a good old radio show, like a classic American Top 40 rundown by a good host, which includes bits of trivia in between.
With the shift of listening from radio to streaming platforms, it’s interesting to see Big Tech finally wake up to the fact that simply bombarding users with millions of songs is not always the solution.
The fact that a good old-fashioned radio program-styled segment is suddenly being pushed by most platforms now, means that the comeback of personalization into music has begun.
Music has been commoditized by streaming platforms, with most users simply keeping it in the loop with the feature of Auto-Play, however, it’ll be interesting to see the user reaction to such personalized segments.
My bet is that passive listeners could be pushed into getting more engaged with artists, if the tone of these segments is light and fun, and does not get too technical.
However, will the radio hosts take such a conscious call?
Yet again, only time will tell.
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