Beatport rolled out a new version of itself last May and in the process may have succeeded in creating one of the most diverse and user-friendly Mp3 download resources for DJs on the Web. Beatport has always offered greater musical diversity than sites like Stompy, that specialize exclusively in House music and all its various sub genres.
Beatport on the other hand offers House, Trance, Dub, Reggae, Psy-Trance, Pop, Rock, Breaks, Hip-Hop, Funk, Techno, R&B, Chill Out and a host of other genres you won’t find at Stompy or even the more diverse, Traxsource.
The new Beatport site provides visitors with a light, breezy interface that offers plenty of open space, giving the content room to breathe and making it easier to browse. Traxsource and Stompy’s designs are very similar to what Beatport just upgraded from and both seem a bit dark and cramped by comparison.
In addition to the stylistic improvements that have made it easier on the eye, Beatport has switched over from Flash to HTML5. This makes it more accessible on a wider variety of devices, namely the Apple iPad, which has stubbornly refused to be compatible with Flash.
The new Beatport also boasts enhanced features such as a player interface that provides you with BPMs, graphical waveforms and key information for every track you playback while visiting the site.
The layout on the HTML5 version of the site is pretty similar to what the flash version was. Beatport’s diverse list of genres is still easy to access at the top of the page next to the “DJ Charts” tab.
The “Top Downloads” playlist to the right of the landing page on old school Beatport has been rechristened “The Beatport Top 10,” and provides you with a current top 10 downloads for every genre your browsing. Tracks you listen to on the top 10 lists runs on a separate player bar across the top of the page, allowing you to keep listening as you navigate the site. The player bar will interrupt when you are browsing tracks on the site and resume when you have stopped listening to them.
Like most DJ download Mp3 sites, Beatport still keeps house music front and center, and offers as good a selection as you’ll find anywhere else on the Web. However features like key information and BPM listings make shopping for tracks at Beatport any DJ’s dream. Beatport also offers tracks in AIFF form in addition to Mp3.
At the moment, Beatport is running both the Flash and the HTML5 versions of the site. So if you’ve been using it for some time and you’re nostalgic for the old school version, you’ll have some time to adjust to the new one. But if you’ve never used Beatport before, check out the HTML5 version for one of the most well-produced experiences buying music you’ll find anywhere on the Web.
