iHeartRadio Hits 60 Million Registered Users

iHeartMedia has today announced that its iHeartRadio streaming music service has surpassed 60 million registered users.

That puts iHeartMedia’s streaming property well out ahead of Spotify, with less than 20 million registered users, and it leaves iHeartRadio on a much faster growth track than Pandora, currently at around 70 million users. Remember, iHeartRadio only came on the scene about four years ago, though uses the resources of a much older institution, formerly Clear Channel, to power its content.

iHeartRadio treats users a bit differently than most streaming services. Users can listen to iHeartRadio on their smartphone or on the web for free without ever registering. The app/website essentially connect users to an am/fm radio.

But if users want to listen to playlists or use other, more personalized features on iHeartRadio, they have to register with the service.

“We look at registration as a way to gauge the added value we bring to consumers,” said iHeartRadio’s VP of Product Chris Williams. “It goes beyond the convenience we bring with access to terrestrial radio and shows that people want that more refined experience that we can offer.”

The streaming space is incredibly hot, though incredibly difficult, going into 2015. Major players have made a name for themselves in a way that has truly changed consumer behavior. Most people will choose a streaming radio product (like Pandora) or a streaming music locker (like Spotify) before they will buy an album outright. But as consumers flock to these new media products, it’s worth remembering that the margins on streaming music are very low.

Plus, there are tons of players in the space, from startups like Pandora and Spotify to bigger players like Apple, Google and Amazon.

But iHeart has a unique position in the mass of competitors. The company is using its history as Clear Channel, one of the world’s largest terrestrial radio providers, to shift into modern day usage behaviors.

“Speed is our biggest challenge moving forward,” said Williams. “I’m constantly blown away by the technology we have and the ideas that come across my desk, but it’s all about if we can move fast enough to get there while it’s still valuable to consumers and innovative and relevant.”

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/yjUqIviYHuY/

via IFTTT