The audiophiles asked – and Beatport answered. Beatport Streaming now has an option to play lossless FLAC files to subscribers of both the Beatport Streaming Professional plan and the Beatsource Streaming Pro+ plan.
That means Beatport’s entire 12-million+-track library – along with Beatsource’s 7-million-strong gold mine – is now at your disposal to stream in high-quality, uncompressed, crystal clear form. If you’re a DJ who has yet to give streaming tracks for your set a shot – or if you haven’t been interested in doing so because of the lack of sound quality when MP3s were your only option – this may very well be the reason to reconsider.
Lossless files are faster in regards to loading time, too – which reduces the risk of running into slow buffer times for tracks you’re looking to play during your set. For DJs working in fast-paced environments where loading a track in seconds is non-negotiable, this improvement alone could make streaming a much more attractive option.
If you’re not ready to shift entirely to a lossless library, that’s not an issue either; flexible switching between FLAC and MP3s is available to Professional users as well. Playing on a massive and/or high-quality sound system? Keep it in FLAC. Need to save on bandwidth or storage? You can adjust accordingly without disrupting your workflow. When it comes down to it, this is a major move from Beatport that truly embodies and celebrates the significance of preserving the best possible sound quality. Beyond that, the new features gives DJs more control and reduces the barriers to high-quality audio streaming in a live performance.
FLAC streaming is currently only compatible with Serato (Mac), but it will soon roll out across a number of widely used platforms including the CDJ-3000, rekordbox, Traktor, and Serato for Windows. Beatport is clearly aiming to make lossless streaming a new norm in the scene, and this cross-platform support is an admirable step on the path to make that happen.
Learn how to stream lossless audio with this quick start guide from Beatport – and don’t forget that you’ll need a Beatport Streaming Professional subscription ($29.99 USD/month) – to do so. The platform is currently offering a 30-day free trial.