The Beatdown

"This is kind of like iTunes, but for us," offers Wyatt Jenkins, one of the four DJs on staff at Beatport, as he runs through a demo of the Beatport Traktor player offered in 2.0, courtesy of the company's partnership with Native Instruments, a German-based enterprise. "It's a little cooler. I use it instead of iTunes. I was an iTunes fan, but I'm a DJ. So when this came out, all of a sudden, it's all I'm using. It's so much more oriented for what I need."

But Beatport's not just for DJs anymore: When Tempel and his team started working on 2.0 last June, the goal was to allow everyone to get involved with the culture at all levels -- from consumers to jocks. And Beatport's user base continues to grow. Last year when the site launched, there were 72 labels on board and 2,000 tracks in the database. Now, as Beatport closes in on 14,000 users, it's working with over 700 labels and offering 20,000 titles.

Tempel continues to be the tireless visionary as he explores synergies with like-minded tech companies such as Orb Networks, a San Francisco-based outfit that is pioneering streaming technology for mobile devices, allowing consumers to manage and access all their digital content. But he insists that Beatport's success is because of the foot soldiers, not the general.

"I really want to recognize people like Shawn, Liz Miller and Wyatt, for their commitment to this," Tempel says. "Because, quite truthfully, it's made the difference, and we all know it. When we talk about Beatport, these are the people that have made the difference."