Thats Interesting

The review team at odinjobs.com showcases up and coming companies and their products. Who knows one of them may be the next Google.

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Slacker – The Big Music Whacker!

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March 14, 2007, Broadband Instruments launched "Slacker" a music ecosystem, which combines interactive webcasts, satellite radio, and traditional MP3 playback. Head-quartered in California, it was founded by three former music startup CEOs - Dennis Mudd, Jim Cady and Jonathan Sasse. Who’ve succeeded in creating their two big babies: slacker.com (an online music service) and the Slacker portable device.

Slacker is no slouch
As cnet says:

“A revolutionary new music service and a portable device to go along with it"

Slacker is all systems go! The online device automatically refreshes new music from the stations of your choice and lets you save or discard songs with a ‘love it’ or ‘ban it’ option. Add $7.50 as a monthly fee and it will save the songs for good, without those pesky radio ads!

The real path breaker is the Slacker desktop radio. It combines all the features of the Slacker web player, with mini-player, visualizations, large album art and playlists. But here’s the great part, it goes anywhere with you! It will be the first to use satellite to deliver music constantly to your device. Even when you are not in a wi-fi environment – now go top that!! The good news just got better, the Slacker portable player and Slacker car kit are just around the corner.

The future of Slacker has been neatly summed up by techcrunch

“Slacker just picked a fight with just about every major online music company I can think of"

Slacker has raised $13.5 million in funding from Sevin Rosen, Austin Ventures and Mission Ventures. It faces competition from Last.fm and Pandora. However, none of them can play outside wi-fi coverage, while Slacker can – nyah, nyah!

Slacker Says…A Chat With The Team

Where did the name Slacker originate?

We offer our listeners a way to hear the music they love without the effort typically associated with downloading and creating the perfect playlist. Whether they listen on their computer, on the Slacker Portable or in their car, a simple push of a button delivers music personalized just for them. We enable our listeners to enjoy their music without the work, as Slackers.

What are your hiring plans for the near future?

As we grow we'll be looking to add top talent to our organization. Slacker currently has job opportunities posted at Slacker.com.

Explain how the music industry has changed in the last few years.

A major change in the industry was the emergence of MP3 technology into the mainstream. The ability for music lovers to rip their music from CDs to MP3, beginning in the late 90s, and share them with anyone in the world was a giant step. Broadband penetration then gave people the ability to easily exchange these songs. Now, the next phase of music consumption is occurring and Slacker is leading the way, giving music fans the most convenient and personal experience possible.

How is Slacker different than other available online players?

Slacker not only offers an extensive music catalog, but also offers over 75 music stations programmed by experts, thousands of artist-based stations and easy to use tools so you can build the perfect station for you. The real breakthrough is that Slacker will enable you to take the entire experience on the go, so you can listen wherever you like.

How important is the ability to listen to music via wifi to your users?

Slacker devices will automatically fill up with your favorite content, based on your personalized settings via Wi-Fi, USB and breakthrough satellite technology for your car. It is an important step forward to ensure that our customers can always get new music without needing to go back to their computer and manage their content constantly.

What specific type of web sites would be great partners for Slacker?

Any sites that promote or are dedicated to music.

What type of technical programming is used to create Slacker?

Slacker programming is a combination of algorithms, data matching and professional radio programming. Users, who hear or ban tracks as well as customize their stations by adjusting station attributes, also influence the technology.

What's the next exciting product/ service that Slacker will launch?

The beta web player is available today at www.slacker.com. This summer the Slacker Personal Radio Player will allow you to take your stations on the go. Then in the second half of 2007 we will have a Slacker Satellite Car Kit. This product will enable users to dock their Slacker device in their cars and "fill up" stations as they drive. All these dates and products are with respect to the U.S. market.

Slacker – So In Tune

Thumbs up to Slacker. It was truly exciting to use it and even more to write about it. It delivers on all aspects and the future plans look good as well. Who knows, this could be another I-pod kind of story in the making!

Posted by Sally Richardsson       Posted at 04:22AM Aug 14, 2007 by Sally Richardsson   


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