Machine Shop: Hype Machine Team Blog

Users of Hype Machine’s Android and iOS apps will notice that display ads have started running in their apps.

We are grateful to everybody who’s purchased the apps since we began releasing them in 2011. These sales allowed us to maintain them and develop new features, and we thank you for your support.

We know that it’s frustrating to see ads in an app you’ve paid for, and we wish we could keep the experience ad-free. Unfortunately, as a small team without outside funding, it is no longer possible for us to keep the app running without the revenue that advertising can provide.

Hype Machine has supported itself with advertising since 2005, and with these changes, we hope to keep bringing you new music for many more years to come. Thank you for listening with us.

UPDATE 12/14/16

We considered many options before introducing ads in our apps, and there are many reasons why subscription/donation/IAP offers were not workable for us at the time (for example, supporting two product experiences is tough for a team of three people).

Given the strong show of support for an ad-free solution since the announcement, we are looking into ways people could remove ads in the apps. If you are interested, sign up here.

UPDATE 03/23/17

Ads in our mobile apps have been temporarily disabled.

We started working on Spotify integration earlier this year, and many of you have already linked your accounts. Now you can sync your favorites and play your Hype Machine finds in Spotify!

Connect here and enable Favorites Sync to begin importing your favorites to a private Spotify playlist. New favorites will be synced automatically.

Also follow us on Spotify to hear our Latest, Stack, and Album Premiere playlists, updated with new music daily.

This past Friday, December 2, 2016, we enabled ads in our Android app.

We released Hype Machine for Android in October 2014 as a $3.99 premium app. The revenue from these sales allowed us to publish many updates, including a full rewrite, maintaining the app as the Android platform underwent rapid changes.

Unfortunately, we were not able to generate enough sales to support our small team and continue development. Unlike many other online services, we don’t have outside funding. Hype Machine is a straightforward business – we get revenue from advertising and invest it into making products for music listeners.

We understand that it’s frustrating to have paid for the app and now see ads on your screen. Though the app became free in April, we’ve waited until December to introduce ads as a small sign of our appreciation of your earlier support. Whether you bought the app years ago or months ago, we hope that the music it’s brought into your life has been worth it.

In the coming months, we’ll be working to make sure the app continues to help you discover new music while keeping the ads as unobtrusive as possible.

I wish we could provide an ad-free experience, but we simply would not be able to continue maintaining the app without this revenue.

UPDATE 12/14/16

We considered many options before introducing ads in our apps, and there are many reasons why subscription/donation/IAP offers were not workable for us at the time (for example, supporting two product experiences is tough for a team of three people).

Given the strong show of support for an ad-free solution since the announcement, we are looking into ways people could remove ads in the apps. If you are interested, sign up here.

UPDATE 03/23/17

Ads in our mobile apps have been temporarily disabled.

You love your favorites—you’ve spent hours here sifting through new music, and these are your gems. We know you prize them, and want to keep them with you wherever you go.

Beginning today, you can sync them to a private playlist on SoundCloud!

We’ve been working with SoundCloud for many years to help you discover new music, and this partnership makes the connection even easier. Link your accounts to get started.

On June 13, 2016, Hype Machine on Sonos will only be available to SoundCloud Go premium subscribers in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.

To keep using Hype Machine on your Sonos device, there are three steps:

1. Sign up for SoundCloud Go.
2. Connect your Hype Machine account to your SoundCloud account. After you link the accounts, your Go status will be visible on this page.
3. Make sure to use this Hype Machine account in your Sonos controller.

Much of the music shared by bloggers that you’ve been able to discover on Hype Machine is hosted on SoundCloud. We’ve been SoundCloud supporters from the very beginning (2008? it has been quite a while), and as their service changes, we are excited to continue to play a role in its growth. Each new Go subscriber enables SoundCloud to better support artists who share music on their service.

Get in touch if you have questions.

UPDATE 6/13/2016: As mentioned above, these availability changes are now live.

UPDATE 9/14/2016: SoundCloud Go is now available in Australia and New Zealand, so you can link accounts and use Hype Machine on Sonos there.

UPDATE 10/19/2016: SoundCloud Go is now available in Canada.