FATdrop has developed a music discovery tool designed especially for DJs and music professionals. Kato, the AI-powered record store assistant, helps pro DJs prioritise and pick out the best releases from their busy promo inboxes, and enables up-and-coming DJs to receive more promos targeted to their taste profile.
While DJs know what kind of music they’re looking for, they often have a poor experience with discovery engines, and charts and download store categories are often dominated by a few labels. Enter, Kato: a tool tailored to DJs and music professionals, who select their music in sophisticated ways that transcend genre.
The algorithms powering Kato are based on record labels, and harnesses over 30 million data points to predict the new releases a DJ will like based on their individual taste profile. DJs can easily create their taste profile and steer the algorithm to evolve alongside their preferences. By design, Kato recognises the dynamism of music taste and the nature of the music discovery process.
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DMC World DJ Final heading to San Francisco for first time everFATdrop product manager Alex Stacey says: “Music taste is not an easy thing to quantify. Most services work with genres, which are great for talking about music, but as soon as a style of music has been emulated enough to give it a genre name, it’s full of tropes and stereotypes. A lot of the most interesting developments in music happen at the edges of these stylistic definitions — making it hard to pigeon hole, and leading to a constant shift of the boundaries. We’ve found that navigating music in a record label-centric way provides a really intuitive way to discover new music. Fifteen years ago the launch of FATdrop revolutionised the way people send promos, and with Kato we’re really excited to drive the next innovation to help connect DJs with the music they’re looking for. It’s great for our clients too because it opens up new ways to find a really engaged and targeted audience for their promos.”
On the FATdrop platform, ‘Kato’s Picks’ are highlighted in recipients’ promo inboxes, helping power-users prioritise what to check out first. Kato also recommends Bandcamp and Juno Download releases, providing tailored recommendations to all recipients, regardless of how many promos they receive. The Bandcamp and Juno Download integrations acknowledge the importance of those platforms as revenue generators for labels, especially smaller independent imprints.
Kato is live now for all recipients using the FATdrop platform.
