 RAIN 7/20: Turntable.fm grows audience, capital on user-programmed streams ·Jul 20, 11:14 AM AT ITS CORE, SERVICE IS NET RADIO WITH ENHANCED SOCIAL AND GAMING ELEMENTSAmidst an IPO from Internet radio leader Pandora and the hotly-anticipated U.S. launch of Spotify, “a strange thing happened,” writes Billboard. A new, cartoon-populated music start-up called Turntable.fm became “the most buzzed-about digital music service in years.”
The New York Times agrees (here), describing Turntable.fm as “revelatory” and “delightful…[it] gives you a live, as-it’s-happening exchange that’s akin to having all your friends over for a party.” So what exactly is Turntable.fm? Basically, users join different rooms where they hear and can rate music played by other users (acting as “DJs”). It’s very much like Internet radio: nearly all the listeners in a room are hearing a playlist of music they didn’t pick. And though users can rate songs like Pandora or similar customizable web radio services, everyone in a room is hearing the same music at the same time. Another twist is the fact that users can jump up the DJ spot and pick specific songs to play to the room. DJs earn points for playing music other users approve of (“like an online game,” writes Billboard) and everyone in a room can chat with each other in real time. The site is in an invite-only stage and the music played currently leans toward indie and electronic genres. But Turntable.fm has over 370,000 monthly active users up from 50,000 a month ago. The service recently raised $7.5 million in funding based on a $37.5 million valuation (RAIN coverage here). You can read Billboard‘s full spotlight of Turntable.fm here. LIVE365 PARTNERS WITH SAVTIRA TO DELIVER CUSTOM WEB RADIO NETWORKS TO CLIENTS Live365 has partnered with B2B e-commerce company Savtira, so Savtira-powered stores can have custom-branded Internet radio channels.
Savtira’s Cloud Commerce platform enables clients to run online stores selling software, physical goods, and more. “The icing on the cake is that all Savtira clients will have their own branded radio station with genres and broadcasters that match their demographic,” said Timothy Roberts, CEO of Savtira Corporation. Radio Ink has more coverage here.
NEW STUDY: FEMALE PANDORA FANS LISTEN TO AM/FM AS MUCH AS, IF NOT MORE THAN, OTHER WOMENWomen who listen to Pandora and similar streaming services use AM/FM radio as much as other women, if not more. That’s what a new study from Alan Burns and Associates found. The details of the study will be discussed in a webinar tomorrow. The free webinar starts at 2pm Eastern and you can find out more here.JACOBS WRAPS UP CONCLAVE “SUMMER SCHOOL”If you missed Jacobs Media’s “Summer School” at the 36th annual Conclave in Minneapolis this year, never fear. Fred Jacobs has posted a round-up of the event, summarizing the big ideas from each “guest lecturer.” Find it here.
EMMIS INTERACTIVE INTEGRATING WITH MARKETRONMarketron and Emmis Interactive have partnered to integrate Emmis Interactive’s products (including BaseStation, GeoStation and TagStation) into Marketron’s Mediascape platform. You can read more from Marketron’s press release here.share: del.icio.us.  Reddit  Digg  Yahoo  Wink  Windows  Google  Newsvine 
CommentCommenting is closed for this article.  Other stories RAIN has upgraded (and moved)! RAIN 9/13: RAIN Summit Chicago takes place today! RAIN 9/12: First Summit in RAIN's hometown takes place tomorrow RAIN 9/9: Summer holidays, "doldrums" impact July Webcast Metrics, but audience up over last year RAIN 9/8: Clear Channel launches new customizable iHeartRadio beta; RAIN goes hands-on RAIN 9/7: Meet more speakers you'll hear at RAIN Summit Chicago in less than a week RAIN 9/6: Clear Channel taps The Echo Nest to take on Pandora RAIN 9/2: RAIN reviews Spotify's radio-like product Artist Radio RAIN 9/1: UK online radio aggregator Radioplayer campaigns b'dcasters to create "all radio" ratings RAIN 8/31: Execs from Merlin, Triton Digital, jacAPPS and more to appear at RAIN Summit Chicago |
