Today, internet radio company Slacker announced a $40 million dollar cash infusion in their second round of funding. Last.fm’s last round before being purchased by CBS for $280 million was only $5 million. Why the huge difference, and what does that mean for the music discovery race in becoming the next mainstream music player?
Last.fm is a music discovery tool that enables the user to “scrobble” tracks from his or her music library and find related music based on what fellow members are listening to. In addition to the stand-alone scrobbler, the listener can tune in to various radio stations.
Slacker is undoubtedly simpler than the scrobbler technology. Flash based, the radio player is embedded directly within the Slacker website. The player incorporates Pandora-like technology to play music based upon what the user likes and does not like. The problem I see with Slacker is that although there are “indie” stations, they don’t leave much room for musical discovery. The company brags about direct partnerships with the majors and therefore exemption from any CRB ruling on internet radio royalities. And that cash infusion? Slacker is developing a WiFi-enabled mobile player for listening on the go. The device to be released later this year will even have a satellite linkup for in the car, fully able to compete with the frankenstein of Sirius/XM.
My problem here is that the long-tail is completely being erased. What happened to indie music re-gaining a voice with technology? How about one of the reasons the industry is sinking – listeners yearning for a way to discover new and/or underground music? If the new music scene truly is a global one these companies need to focus on programming as just as equal as the technology that drives it. I applaud what Slacker is doing – it’s about time someone figured out how and where we want to listen. But how about that content? Why not feature music from different parts of the globe, different styles, genres, etc?
If we’ve learned anything these past few years, the listener prescribes success. Not the dollar signs behind it.
