Webjay
| Company type | Online service |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music streaming, playlist sharing |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founder | Lucas Gonze |
| Defunct | 2007 |
| Fate | Acquired by Yahoo! and discontinued |
| Successor | Yahoo! Media Player, Easy Listener (features incorporated) |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Online playlist creation and sharing platform |
Webjay was an online playlist platform introduced in early 2004. It allowed users to create playlists containing links to various audio formats such as Vorbis, MP3, WMA, RealAudio, among others. Users could generate new playlists by duplicating existing ones or by extracting audio links from external websites through web scraping. The service was developed by Lucas Gonze.
On January 9, 2006, Yahoo! acquired Webjay and subsequently discontinued the service by June 2007.
The web scraping capabilities of Webjay were incorporated into Yahoo! applications including Yahoo! Media Player and Easy Listener.
The logo representing Webjay was crafted by designer Perri Harper.
Copyright issues
While Webjay did not host any audio files directly, it aimed to prevent copyright conflicts by promptly removing links when requested by rights holders. Its guidelines focused on encouraging the distribution of legally authorized music and discouraged linking to unauthorized content:
Explanations by third parties
A The New York Times article from July 2004 described Webjay as a platform that simplifies the process of creating, sharing, and enjoying playlists composed of audio and video links sourced from across the web.
In March 2004, blogger Jon Udell emphasized Webjay’s collaborative features despite some challenges related to playlist formats and metadata, highlighting its usefulness for music sharing and discovery.
Another New York Times article from April 2004 portrayed Webjay as a website that compiles song links into continuous radio-style shows, comparable to a customizable mix tape available without requiring downloads.
Relationship to XSPF
The development of the XSPF playlist format was influenced by Webjay as playlist management evolved from editing on individual sites toward broader sharing using Flash-based widgets.
Webjay produced playlists in text-based formats such as ASX, SMIL, and M3U, which contained URLs pointing to multimedia files hosted on third-party platforms. These playlists could be downloaded and played sequentially with client media players like Windows Media Player, RealAudio, QuickTime, or Winamp, creating the effect of uninterrupted streaming.
Following the advent of XSPF but prior to its support in media players, Webjay introduced functionality to export playlists in XSPF format without providing an associated player. An independent developer then created the Flash-based XSPF Musicplayer, capable of playing XSPF playlists but lacking features for playlist creation. Together, Webjay and XSPF Musicplayer formed a synergistic ecosystem further enhanced by the "Webjay Wizard" website.
Because XSPF Musicplayer operated entirely within browsers without needing external media players, it gained popularity as a Web widget for embedding music on social networking platforms like Myspace, fueling demand for the XSPF format.
After Yahoo! discontinued Webjay, various tools for editing and generating XSPF playlists appeared, helping maintain the format’s relevance in digital music distribution.
External links
- Video interview with Lucas Gonze conducted by Zadi Diaz on EPIC FU, a weekly web show focused on online pop culture (September 4, 2008)