The Auto DJ
Auto DJ - Background
In 2004 a service called MixAlbum was set up. It's aim was to sell music using the world's first fully automated Auto DJ, patented in 2000 by FitMixPro MD, Ian Chamings. There was enough start-up investment to get the Auto DJ developed, and this was done by ace developer Dr Tom Hedley. But the rights to sell music were hard to get - music companies simply weren't interested in working with such a small company.
In 2005 investment was running low so more had to be found, and along with more conventional routes, Ian applied to go on to the BBC programme Dragons' Den. The application was rejected.
In 2006 it was looking like the Auto DJ was never going to launch, and Ian had to choose whether to go back to the desk job, or plough on - he tried once more to apply for Dragons' Den, series 3. This time, he was accepted. The pitch went well, and investors Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis invested - click here to see the pitch.
In 2007 MixAlbum.com was launched, with support from record labels EMI, Sony BMG and Ministry of Sound amongst others. What could go wrong?! Well, no-one really wanted to buy music - it was easy enough to get for free.
So in 2008 the future wasn't looking good for the AutoDJ, with sales still low. However - thanks to the exposure on Dragons' Den a lot of people had seen the Auto DJ in action, and emails were coming in from Fitness instructors (or Fit pros) - if the system was tweaked slightly they could use it for their group fitness music. They were fed up of similar compilations from the current suppliers, and wanted to choose their own tracks.
In 2009 FitMixPro.com was launched - using the same Auto DJ but with some upgrades, for example 32 Count mixing specifically for fit pros. It was made easy to use, customers just had to click Mix It, they didn't need to have any mixing experience. Plus there was music from all of the main music labels.
The BBC made another catch-up programme covering the launch of FitMixPro which can be seen here.
Since then, FitMixPro has constantly been updated in line with requests and suggestions from Fitness Instructors, and today it's Europe's largest Group Fitness Music download site for fit pros [Source: Alexa.com]. Thank you Fitness Instructors!
How the Auto DJ works
We're not going to say! The aim of the Auto DJ is to always give the best possible mix between tracks. It uses patented algorithms to make this happen, and even takes into account the type of music (for example, it might gently fade chillout music). It also does something unique which makes the mixes sound natural and keeps them perfectly in phrase.
You can always here how the mix will sound - just add any two tracks to the Tracklist and click Mix Demo which appears in the Tracklist between the tracks.