Podcast: Rdio CEO talks about a ‘rennaisance’ for record labels with new stations service
Bay
Music streaming service Rdio has launched a series of new curated stations programmed by record labels and key local influencers which its global CEO Anthony Bay says is an opportunity for them to reach out directly to consumers.
Speaking to Mumbrella San Francisco-based Bays said the new offering was one way in which Rdio is looking to differentiate itself from global rivals like Spotify, Pandora and the newly released Apple Radio.
Bays also said the recent launch of Apple’s new streaming offering, which combines both live radio streams and more traditional streaming options, will help boost the profile of the category.
“The vast majority of our top stations in terms of what people listen to are curated stations,” he said.
“What we thought would be valuable for listeners is to enable other taste makers, influencers, to create their own stations and in creating those stations they would take their brand, their experience and they would create programmes, they’d create a station in this case.”
The new stations have launched for the first time in Australia, Mexico, Brazil, India and Asia, with additional stations added to the current offering available in the US, Canada and UK.
“This is a great opportunity in the world of streaming for label curation to in a sense have a renassiance, to be able to come back and say how do we create a way in which people can listen to our artists, a station based on the music from our artists, or inspired by our artists or things our artists were inspired by,” Bay said.
“It’s to give consumers an opportunity to chose from stations that are programmed by very, very impactful brands and give those brands a voice which reaches out directly to consumers.”
The label and influencer stations are easily accessible in Rdio’s “Stations” section within the main navigation.
Bay joined Mumbrella for an interview ranging across the new label stations, the state of the industry and the launch of Apple Music. You can listen to it below.
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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