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The 2 minute preview on Beatport: ways around it for DJs, music labels, and artists.
The 2 minute preview on Beatport: ways around it for DJs, music labels, and artists.
Jason Wohlstadter avatar
Written by Jason Wohlstadter
Updated over 4 years ago

When DJs shop on Beatport, they can to preview a 2 minute clip of every song. This preview is generated automatically by Beatport: they select the exact 2 minutes in the middle of the track. Unfortunately, Beatport does NOT allow DJs, artists, music labels, or distributors to customize which 2 minutes of the song are available for preview.

But there are some ways around this limitation...

As a DJ, is there any way to preview the full song?

Yes! DJs can pay Beatport for a paid subscription unlocking needledrop previews. With needledrop, DJs can test drive any part of the song instead of the automatically selected 2 minute clip. A paid subscription to Beatport Cloud or Beatport Link will unlock the needledrop functionality.

  • Pro Tip for DJs: Full length previews on Beatport are also available for FREE whenever you use Crates, an alternative browser to the Beatport catalog. Instead of a paid subscription, the full length previews are powered by YouTube. Cool!

  • You can also shop on Juno or BandCamp, which offer free needledrop previews.

I'm an artist or label. Is there any way I change the 2 minute clip?

Yes, but it's not pretty: you can change the actual length of your song so that the middle 2 minutes are a different part. Making your song longer or shorter will adjust the 2 minute preview section, since it's the exact middle of the track.

If your music label is powered by Proton, you can easily upload a replacement master to your release via the Edit/Fix button next to your release inside SoundSystem.

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