When you think of radio, what comes to mind? Probablyjust shock jocks, loudmouth political pundits, terrible top 40 Justin Beiber songs and the same classic rock songs played over and over again. Not very appealing at all. And yet Internet radio seems to be thriving, because it has become a place where we can listen to what we want to listen to, even if regular stations will never play it. It is also a place to find new and interesting music without having to wade through all the garbage.
One such service, free streaming music service Songza, has now raised $3.8 million in financing, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Though no investors were listed in the filing, it does say that the company has 27 investors participating in this latest round. The company previously raised an undisclosed amount of financing raised in September 2011, from Deep Fork Capital, an unnamed strategic investor and Geoff Judge, co-founder of 24/7 Real Media, who also joined Songza’s board of directors.
There is, of course, also no indication about what Songza will do with the latest money it has raised.
Songza, which officially launched in September 2011, is a cloud-based digital music service that allows users to create and share music playlists in the cloud that. It offers a Music Conceirge that will give users suggested playlists that are based on day and time, along with filters for mood. For example, since I am writing this on a Sunday night, it has options for "unwinding," "studying (no lyrics)," "bedtime," and "love and romance." If I switch it to Wednesday afternoon the options become, "boosting your energy," "working to a background beat," "getting fired up," and "keeping calm and mellow."
These are not the only playlists the service offers. It also has categories that include genre, decades, culture, and record-store clerk (playlists for record-store clerk include Indie Music That’s Not Too Weird, Obscure Genres, and When You’re Over Being a Music Snob).
Songza has apps that can be downloaded for the web, iOs, Android, and Kindle Fire.
The music streaming space
The music streaming space is dominated by two heavy hitters: Spotify and Pandora, both of which have been doing well recently.
In November it was reported that Spotify recently raised a $100 million round, giving it a valuation of $3 billion. Earlier this month, Pandora announced that it has hit 200 million users, doubling its userbase in two years.
So while these are obviously two giant companies that Songza is going head to head with, the success of Spotift and Pandora prove two things: one, that there is money out there for digital music companies, and, two, that the userbase for music streaming is still growing. These should be encouraging signs for Songza.
The Long Island City, New York-based Songza is owned by the same team who created Amie Street, which allowed musicians to upload their music to Amie Street’s platform and allowed users to listen for free, while songs rose in price as they drew more listeners. Amie Street was acquired by Amazon in September 2010 for an undisclosed amount.
Songza could not be reached for further comment.
(Image source: https://mashable.com)
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Pandora, the leading internet radio service, gives people music they love
anytime, anywhere, through a wide variety of connected devices: laptop and
desktop computers, smartphones, connected BluRay players, connected TVs,
etc. Personalized stations launch instantly with the input of a single “seed” –
a favorite artist, song or genre. The Music Genome Project®, a deeply
detailed, hand-built musical taxonomy, powers the personalization or
Pandora. Using this musicological “DNA” and constant listener feedback
Pandora crafts personalized stations from the more than 800,000 songs that
have been analyzed since the project began in January 2000.
More than 75 million people throughout the United States listen to
personalized radio stations for free on Pandora through their PCs, mobile
phones and devices such as the iPad, and connected in-house devices
ranging from TVs to set-top boxes to Blu-Ray players. Mobile technology has
been a significant factor in the growth and popularity of Pandora, starting
with the introduction of the Apple app store for the iPhone in the summer of
2008. Pandora instantly became one of the most top downloaded apps and
today, according to Nielsen, is one of the top five most popular apps across
all smartphone platforms.
Pandora is free, simple and, thanks to connectivity, available everywhere
consumers are – at the office, at home, in the car and all points in between.
In 2009 the Company announced that Pandora would be incorporated into
the dashboard in Ford cars via SYNC technology; GM has already followed in
announcing plans to integrate Pandora into its vehicles and Mercedes-Benz
introduced their Media Interface Plus device that works with the
free Pandora iPhone app to provide direct control of Pandora from in-dash
stereo controls. This was all great news for the millions of Pandora listeners
who had been plugging their smartphones into car dashboards to listen to
personalized stations while driving. More than 50 percent of radio listening
happens in the car, making it a crucial arena for Pandora.
Today tens of millions of people have a deeply personal connection with
Pandora based on the delight of personalized radio listening and discovery.
These highly engaged listeners reinforce the value Pandora provides to: 1)
musicians, who have found in Pandora a level playing field on which their
music has a greater chance of being played than ever before; 2) advertisers,
who benefit from the multi-platform reach of Pandora, as well as its best
practices in targeting consumers for specific campaigns; 3) the music
industry, which has found in Pandora a highly effective distribution channel;
and 4) automobile and consumer electronics device manufacturers, who have
noted that incorporating Pandora into their product makes it more valuable
to consumers.
Pandora continues to focus on its business in the United States. The radio
arena has never been hotter, thanks to technology that enables radio to be
personalized to the individual and more accessible than ever before. Right
now millions of people listen to Pandora in the United States and we hope
someday to bring Pandora to billions of people around the world.
Timeline:
• 2000 – Tim Westergren’s Music Genome Project begins.
• 2005 – Pandora launches on the web.
• 2008 – Pandora app becomes one of the most consistently downloaded
apps in the Apple store.
• 2009 – Ford announces Pandora will be incorporated into car
dashboard. Alpine and Pioneer begin selling aftermarket radios that
connect to consumers’ iPhones and puts the control and command of
Pandora into the car dashboard.
• 2010 – Pandora is present on more than 200 connected consumer
electronics devices ranging from smartphones to TVs to set-top boxes
to Blu-ray players and is able to stream visual, audio, and interactive
advertising to computers, smartphones, iPads, and in-home connected
devices.
