Digitizing DJ culture: How Beatport built a globally recognized brand — and where it's headed next

by April Bohnert
August 27, 2018
Beatport company evolution interview CIO Jonathan Steffan Colorado
Photo courtesy of Beatport.

DJ culture was built upon the art of crate digging.

Even greater than the thrill of performing was the thrill of finding that perfect record, that track or beat that would set the dance floor on fire. 

But as the world itself became more digital, so too did the art of being a DJ. In lieu of lugging around heavy crates of records, many performers began carrying portable hard drives. Soon, it became clear: DJs needed a digital space to keep their music libraries fresh — without completely losing sight of one of the profession's most time-honored traditions.

That’s when Beatport broke onto the scene.

The goal? Digitize the culture and create an online platform through which music producers and DJs could connect and share their work, to — as CIO and 10-year Beatport veteran Jonathan Steffan put it — “provide the digital equivalent of finding that perfect record in a physical store.”

In those early days, the product was nothing more than a flash-based e-commerce store, developed specifically to fit the screen size of the most popular MacBook at the time. Even then, both the Beatport team and its fast-growing user base knew they were onto something special.

“There were wide-ranging passions for electronic music across all teams within the company,” Steffan said. “It was energizing. Even the systems administration team was composed of multiple DJs. There was a real sense of purpose for all employees.”

Through this passion and deep connection to the community it serves, Beatport has become a standard-bearer in the electronic music industry. We talked to Steffan to learn more about how Beatport has evolved in his time there, where the company’s headed next  — and why now is an especially exciting time to be part of the team.

 

How has Beatport leveraged technology to get where it is today? How have you balanced tech innovation with the wants and needs of your customers?

We’ve made a concerted effort to develop technology solutions that can serve our consumers and evolve alongside the forward-thinking ebb and flow of dance music trends. We’ve made it a point to also have core competencies in non-technology systems. Maintaining relationships with labels and the music community through our expert curators and label managers, attending and supporting major industry events, and helping others grow their businesses have allowed us to maintain a healthy balance between technology systems and the music community we serve.

 

Given the company’s almost 15-year history, what are some of the defining challenges you’ve encountered? How did you overcome those challenges? What did you learn?

Beatport set out to build a consumer-focused music platform that combined multiple ideas and trends we were seeing. We pivoted to address the fans and the festival goers within the larger market. We embraced user-generated content and the needs of our label partners to better promote their music and brands. We also ran into the same challenge that all music streaming services have: the target audience expects free content. It was a costly experience for our business, one that didn’t address the needs of our core community.

We took our eye off of the most important thing that made us successful: making the lives of DJs better. Beatport shuttered any product that did not focus specifically on the DJ. In the end, our streaming service was an enhanced shopping experience for our customers.

 

READ MORE ABOUT BEATPORT:Never settle: 8 Colorado tech companies where you can shine

 

What projects or initiatives are you most excited to be working on right now?

We are currently building the next evolution of our platform, taking lessons learned from the past to build a product that focuses on the experience of what it is to be a DJ and discover the next big track or secret weapon. We are focusing on the tastemakers and the DJs, building technologies and products to enhance their creative lives.

I’m excited for the opportunity to leverage what made Beatport an integral part of what it meant to DJ for the past decade and to help define what it’s going to mean to DJ for the next decade. We are on the cusp of something transformative which makes it an especially exciting time at Beatport.

 

How do your teams collaborate, both internally and cross-functionally?

Beatport has long embraced an agile workflow for our technology teams. We’ve reconfigured our collaborative methods many times and are always looking to see if a method that maybe didn’t work as well in the past can be adapted for current uses. We focus more on being effective as a team versus following a prescriptive working style. This has helped a lot with cross-team collaboration across our offices in Denver, Berlin and Los Angeles.

 

We are on the cusp of something transformative which makes it an especially exciting time at Beatport.”

 

What opportunities exist for employees to grow professionally and contribute to the business — and the industry as a whole — in a meaningful way?

At Beatport, our team gets to build products and features they care about and that our audience has a true passion for. Our team has a real opportunity to impact the future of the music industry. This provides tremendous motivation.

We use a lot of technology and specialized knowledge at Beatport. Beatpeeps throughout the company have been able to hone their expertise to help us grow as a team, while also expanding what is possible for themselves personally. I’ve seen many team members progress beyond their initial job description. It’s always awesome when people surprise themselves by how much they can do and how great they really are at their craft.

 

How would you describe your ideal job candidate?

Passion for their craft. Work gets tough, companies have to adapt and pivot, times get hard, team members join and leave. But the most successful team members I’ve worked with are passionate about what they do and have pride in the end result. They are able to preserve that passion through changes both big and small.

It’s that passion and motivation that makes even the toughest of times enjoyable.

 

Jobs at Beatport

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