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Slacker (music service)
Encyclopedia
Slacker Radio is an interactive Internet radio
service available in the US and Canada. Listeners can access the service on the web, through mobile apps on multiple smartphones as well as on Slacker Personal Radio Players and other devices. It allows users to create and share customized music stations. Slacker allows users to customize one of their programmed stations (for instance, Top hits) or start with music similar to an artist or song, and then customize that. In April 2009, the service had over 2.4 million songs, organized into over 100 programmed stations and 10,000 artist stations.
.
In September 2007, the service finalized its deals with 4 Major labels; Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI, Universal, and Warner; it also announced deals with thousands of Indie
labels.
In April 2008, the company announced agreements with top music publishers, including EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group and Warner/Chappell Music. These agreements, signed before the Slacker Portable Player launched, allowed Portable Player users to listen to cached Internet radio stations and premium radio users to save songs for later playback.
In November 2008, Slacker became available on Sony
's BIVL
service. In May 2009, a built-in Slacker Radio app was launched on Sony's Walkman X1000 series. In principle, it worked similar to the Portable Player, refreshing music when connected to a WiFi network.
, specialty, and artist stations pre-programmed by professional DJs while also letting users build entire stations of specific artists. Slacker users can continue to develop any of these stations by rating favorite songs and banning artists or songs. Stations can also be adjusted to play older or newer music, more hits or more eclectic music. Users who log onto Slacker can begin listening to music from more than 100 professionally programmed and 10,000 artist-specific stations. When a user inputs the name of a specific band or artist Slacker will instantly create a station based on that musician along with similar artists. This feature allows users to discover new artists similar to the ones they already like. Users can also create their own stations by inputting artists they like. The rest of the station is automatically populated with similar songs and artists. If a paid subscription user adds 15 or more artists into a selected personal station, Slacker does not add additional artists and only songs from the specifically chosen bands will play on that station. Pre-programmed themed stations (holidays, music festivals, and artists) are also available.
In July 2010, Slacker added the ABC News
station, with an option to include headline news for top-of-the-hour updates on any Slacker Radio station. In late summer 2011, ESPN channels were also added.
In addition to its free, ad-supported service, Slacker offers additional levels of subscription service:
, MySpace
and Facebook
to further promote music discovery.
Twitter
Twitter
users can login to Slacker and select the option to automatically or manually tweet the following items to alert their friends and followers about their music discovery experience:
Facebook
Facebook
users can find Slacker Radio on Facebook and become a fan to get the latest on music news, new features, promotions and Slacker contests.
with the free Slacker widget. Simply click the "share station" button from the Now Playing screen. Then click the "add to MySpace" button.
On September 16, 2008 Slacker released a new portable player called Slacker G2. When located in a WiFi hot spot or connected to a PC, its radio delivery network can download and refresh selected songs on the device and turn them into "personalized radio stations." The players do not have to be connected to WiFi for playback. The player ties in with your Slacker account, and features available depend on whether you use the free, Plus or Premium service. It has a 2.4” color screen (Resolution: 320×240 TFT) and comes in capacities of 4GB & 8GB. It is compatible with existing digital music formats (MP3, WMA and ACC), and claims up to 15 hours of battery life.
-hotspots that would normally require a web-based login, something that the Slacker Portable could not previously access because of its lack of a web-based browser.
. Essentially this enables the Last.fm
Audioscrobbler in Slacker. Users with both a Slacker and a Last.fm
account can build a library of cataloged songs in Last.fm
profile that reflect both services.
Alternatively, the LastFM Firefox Extension automatically "scrobbles" songs heard on Slacker to a user's account on Last.fm
. Also works with Pandora
.
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
service available in the US and Canada. Listeners can access the service on the web, through mobile apps on multiple smartphones as well as on Slacker Personal Radio Players and other devices. It allows users to create and share customized music stations. Slacker allows users to customize one of their programmed stations (for instance, Top hits) or start with music similar to an artist or song, and then customize that. In April 2009, the service had over 2.4 million songs, organized into over 100 programmed stations and 10,000 artist stations.
History
The company was founded in 2004 by Celite Milbrandt and Dennis Mudd who launched the company in March 2007. Dennis was the former CEO of MusicMatch, which was purchased by Yahoo Music and is now known as Yahoo! Music Radio. The current CEO is Jim Cady, former CEO of RioRio (digital audio players)
Rio was the brand name of a line of digital audio players, best known for producing the "Diamond Rio" model that was the impetus for a lawsuit in 1998 by the Recording Industry Association of America...
.
In September 2007, the service finalized its deals with 4 Major labels; Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI, Universal, and Warner; it also announced deals with thousands of Indie
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
labels.
In April 2008, the company announced agreements with top music publishers, including EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group and Warner/Chappell Music. These agreements, signed before the Slacker Portable Player launched, allowed Portable Player users to listen to cached Internet radio stations and premium radio users to save songs for later playback.
In November 2008, Slacker became available on Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
's BIVL
BIVL
BIVL is a proprietary video on demand technology by Sony corporation. BIVL stands for BRAVIA Internet Video Link.BIVL consists of an internet video service that is accessed via a hardware peripheral that can only be added to compatible Sony BRAVIA TV sets....
service. In May 2009, a built-in Slacker Radio app was launched on Sony's Walkman X1000 series. In principle, it worked similar to the Portable Player, refreshing music when connected to a WiFi network.
Basic functions
Slacker offers traditional genreGenre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
, specialty, and artist stations pre-programmed by professional DJs while also letting users build entire stations of specific artists. Slacker users can continue to develop any of these stations by rating favorite songs and banning artists or songs. Stations can also be adjusted to play older or newer music, more hits or more eclectic music. Users who log onto Slacker can begin listening to music from more than 100 professionally programmed and 10,000 artist-specific stations. When a user inputs the name of a specific band or artist Slacker will instantly create a station based on that musician along with similar artists. This feature allows users to discover new artists similar to the ones they already like. Users can also create their own stations by inputting artists they like. The rest of the station is automatically populated with similar songs and artists. If a paid subscription user adds 15 or more artists into a selected personal station, Slacker does not add additional artists and only songs from the specifically chosen bands will play on that station. Pre-programmed themed stations (holidays, music festivals, and artists) are also available.
In July 2010, Slacker added the ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
station, with an option to include headline news for top-of-the-hour updates on any Slacker Radio station. In late summer 2011, ESPN channels were also added.
Account Types
The free Slacker Basic Radio user account is an advertisement-supported service. It allows registered users to have free access to basic features, and works on all Flash-enabled web browsers.In addition to its free, ad-supported service, Slacker offers additional levels of subscription service:
- Slacker Radio Plus adds station caching to mobile phones, unlimited skips and song requests, no audio or banner advertisements, full lyrics, and the ability to turn off DJ’s on stations.
- Slacker Radio Premium has all the features of the Plus tier, adding the ability to create playlists and play selected songs on demand, similar to a traditional mp3 player. This tier was added in May 2011.
Slacker Mobile Applications
Slacker Mobile apps work with the free Slacker Basic Radio service and Slacker Radio subscription services on iPhone, iPod touch, WebOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Windows Phone 7 smartphone platforms. The applications provide high-quality stereo playback from 3G or WiFi connections. Features such as station creation, recently played stations, fine-tune options, artist biographies, photos, album art, reviews, station caching and lyrics (for Slacker Radio Plus or Premium subscribers) are available on the mobile applications as well.Slacker Community
Slacker has provided its listeners and all music fans with the opportunity to connect via TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
to further promote music discovery.
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
users can login to Slacker and select the option to automatically or manually tweet the following items to alert their friends and followers about their music discovery experience:
- Station changes/plays
- Favorite Song
- Banned Song
- Banned Artist
- Pick from any or all of the above
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
users can find Slacker Radio on Facebook and become a fan to get the latest on music news, new features, promotions and Slacker contests.
MySpace
Listeners can add their Slacker Radio station to MySpaceMySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
with the free Slacker widget. Simply click the "share station" button from the Now Playing screen. Then click the "add to MySpace" button.
Slacker Portable Radio Player
The first generation players were available in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB capacities. On January 9, 2008 the not yet released Slacker Portable Player received Laptop Magazine's Best of CES Portable Audio/Video Player Award.Slacker G2 Personal Radio Player
Devicescape Connect
Devicescape Connect is a feature that was added to the Slacker Portable Players to allow users to access WiFiWIFI
WIFI is a radio station broadcasting a brokered format. Licensed to Florence, New Jersey, USA, the station is currently operated by Florence Broadcasting Partners, LLC.This station was previously owned by Real Life Broadcasting...
-hotspots that would normally require a web-based login, something that the Slacker Portable could not previously access because of its lack of a web-based browser.
Third-Party Last.fm Audioscrobbler Hacks
The application has an unofficial hack available from LastSlacker that tracks the songs played on the player and reports them to Last.fmLast.fm
Last.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
. Essentially this enables the Last.fm
Last.fm
Last.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
Audioscrobbler in Slacker. Users with both a Slacker and a Last.fm
Last.fm
Last.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
account can build a library of cataloged songs in Last.fm
Last.fm
Last.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
profile that reflect both services.
Alternatively, the LastFM Firefox Extension automatically "scrobbles" songs heard on Slacker to a user's account on Last.fm
Last.fm
Last.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
. Also works with Pandora
Pandora (music service)
Pandora Radio is an automated music recommendation service and custodian of the Music Genome Project available only in the United States. The service plays musical selections similar to song suggestions entered by a user...
.
Similar Services
- PandoraPandora (music service)Pandora Radio is an automated music recommendation service and custodian of the Music Genome Project available only in the United States. The service plays musical selections similar to song suggestions entered by a user...
- Last.fmLast.fmLast.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
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