Photo Credit: Turntable LIVE
Ahead of its public launch, social music platform Turntable LIVE has officially acquired JQBX, a self-described “Spotify plugin that allows for real-time music sharing.”
Turntable LIVE founder and CEO Joseph Perla emailed Digital Music News with word of the JQBX buyout today. While the purchase’s financial details haven’t been publicly disclosed, the deal arrives just weeks after the Turntable successor unveiled a $7 million seed raise led by Founders Fund and f7 Ventures.
Designed to enable “music fans, coworkers, and other communities to gather, DJ together, and interact in a playful virtual setting,” Turntable LIVE specifically allows users to create avatars, visit digital dance floors, chat (via text or voice) with one another, and, using a streaming service of their choosing, introduce fellow listeners to tracks and artists, according to the platform.
Scheduled to become available for public use “in the near future,” Turntable LIVE had previously partnered with JQBX “to experiment with new features,” the companies indicated. Fan responses to these features then set the stage for the acquisition, the music-centered social services relayed, with JQBX poised to continue operating as a subsidiary of Turntable LIVE.
“Both Turntable LIVE and JQBX had passionate users and a similar approach and true devotion to music as an amplifying social dimension for virtual experiences,” Turntable LIVE head Joseph Perla explained of the deal. “We plan to keep serving JQBX’s users as we make Turntable LIVE even more fun.”
And in comments of his own, JQBX (and Zigpoll) founder Jason Zigelbaum relayed: “Joseph has a very clear vision for the future of social listening and virtual music experiences that I find incredible. The JQBX community is in good hands.”
Turntable LIVE’s latest play comes amid a continued social-focused expansion for the music industry, which has for some time been hosting seemingly successful listening parties, concerts, and different events in multifaceted digital worlds.
But standalone social services dedicated to music and interactions alike, along with community-driven offerings on already-popular streaming platforms, have been picking up steam as of late. Spotify has specified that it will continue supporting live functions despite the shutdown of Spotify Live, and Amazon is building out its Amp live-radio offering with Nick Cannon and others as hosts.
More recently, Tidal towards April’s beginning added a “Live” music-sharing feature through which fans can play tracks for others in real time. Both the Block-owned platform and Deezer are working on a compensation-reform initiative with Universal Music, which believes that when it comes to streaming, “the critical contributions of too many artists, as well as the engagement of too many fans, are undervalued.”