Streaming platform and internet radio service 8tracks plans to close up shop on December 31. The company launched in 2008 and helped fuel the shift to streaming, allowing users to create, share, and surf through subscriber-created playlists of at least eight songs or more. Though, after 11 years the company is shutting down due to an inability to keep up with royalty payments among other factors.

In a blog post, founder David Porter describes the small company’s adjustment from paying royalties in a revenue percentage sharing model to paying per play in 2013, often making it difficult to keep up with payments as revenue fluctuated. Other issues like accessibility outside the US and Canada, the platform’s integration with SoundCloud, and Spotify’s dominating year-over-year collection of paid subscribers ultimately contributed to 8tracks’ eventual demise. Amid a major shift towards algorithmically curated music selection on platforms like Spotify over time, 8track’s closure comes as a tough blow for user-curated playlisting.

Read David Porter’s full blog post here.

Tags: 8tracks, shut down, streaming

Categories: News