October 8, 2012
EMI Music’s legendary Blue Note Records has announced the launch today of an innovative new app within the popular online music streaming service Spotify. The Blue Note app provides a rich user experience by creating a space to explore and discover music spanning the entire history of the label from 1939 to present. Download the app here.
The Blue Note app traces the label’s evolution from the early jazz of Sidney Bechet to the trailblazing bebop of Thelonious Monk, from Art Blakey’s quintessential hardbop thru Ornette Coleman’s avant-garde flights, from Jimmy Smith’s grinding organ soul jazz leading to Donald Byrd’s funky R&B fusion and on into today’s modern explorations such as Robert Glasper’s unique blend of jazz with hip hop, and beyond. The app’s design and functionality allow the listener to discover by performer, album, style, instrument or year, providing several easy entry points into the music for jazz novices, as well as the ability for jazz aficionados to dive deep into Blue Note’s unrivaled catalog. The app also incorporates Spotify’s trademark social features such as building playlists and sharing favorite tracks with friends.
“In the great tradition of Blue Note Records, our new Spotify app pushes the boundaries of the digital listening experience,” said Don Was, President of Blue Note Records. “Catering to both the educated aficionado and new fans alike, this innovative interface provides music fans with a clean, user-friendly doorway to hours of discovery and musical gratification.”
“Blue Note is virtually synonymous with jazz music and their new app is a great example of music experts taking advantage of the Spotify platform to foster deep music discovery and appreciation,” said Steve Savoca, Head of Content, Spotify. “Our passionate users now have a curated experience to guide them through the vast amount of jazz music on Spotify.”
KEY FEATURES:
TIMELINE – Explore the Blue Note catalog chronologically from the label’s very first recording session with boogie woogie pianists Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis in 1939 to the most recent album, Heritage by African jazz guitarist Lionel Loueke, which was released last month. The app features every Blue Note title available in Spotify. Diversions abound with each album page connecting to the artist pages of the leader and sidemen on the session allowing the user to find their own way down an endless path of discovery with full-album streaming available at every turn.
FILTER – Explore the catalog by musical style, era or even by instrument. The Artists and Blue Note 101 sections offer a filter to help guide the user through the label’s different styles of music: Tradition (Thelonious Monk, Jason Moran), Groove (Lou Donaldson, Robert Glasper) and Voices (Dianne Reeves, Norah Jones).
BLUE BREAK BEATS – Blue Note partnered with the website Who Sampled to take the user on a tour of music that contains samples from the Blue Note catalog, placing the original versions alongside the sampled versions by artists such as Beastie Boys, Chemical Brothers, Common, Madonna, The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, Usher, and Wu-Tang Clan.
SHOP – Peruse Blue Note merchandise that riffs off of the label’s influential visual style, including t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, bags, and more.
ABOUT SPOTIFY:
Spotify is an award-winning digital music service that gives you on-demand access to over 18 million songs, wherever you are. Spotify makes it easier than ever to discover, manage and share music with your friends, while making sure that artists get paid. Since its launch in Sweden in 2008, Spotify has become the largest and most successful music service of its kind, with over 15 million active users and over 4 million paying subscribers. Spotify is now available in fifteen countries around the world: USA, UK, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. For more information on Spotify, visit www.spotify.com.
