In an email, the site explains its actions succinctly: "Keeping the lights on and paying the bills through advertising revenue and thereby passing along these unique recordings to you freely is not working. We want to keep Daytrotter in everyone's lives so we're looking for a little help."
The site, which has made a name for itself providing unique, live recordings of bands of all shapes and sizes simply isn't able to keep up with the free model with advertising revenue footing the bill, but they're not simply moving to subscription service without adding features.
In addition to access to all the previous recordings, subscribers will now get an ad-free experience, HD video, lossless audio and a larger boost in the number of artists coming through, including, rather notably, an upcoming session with Moby. Yes, that Moby.
The site is also introducing a new live streaming option, where you can see and hear recordings as they happen, for a three dollar fee. This includes the video, download and streaming audio for most cases. If you're more inclined to sample, you can check out the live streaming this afternoon at 12 p.m. for free, when Moby hits the studio.
The amount of content you'll get for just two bucks a month is pretty astounding, and if you're a fan of the site and what if offers, you'll likely see little change when it comes to how content is delivered. While the offerings have certainly diversified over the years, the model, which is to deliver a new kind of content daily, is still interesting. You can grab a week long free trial if you're curious if it'll be worth it.
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