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The biggest radio powerhouse in the US just took aim at Apple and Spotify with a new service
(Tom Poleman is the head of programming for iHeartMediaDanielle Pearce)
iHeartMedia, the 850-station radio giant formerly known as Clear Channel Communications, is going after streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music by launching its own on-demand option.
The service, called iHeartRadio All Access, will debut in January 2017, the company said in a press release. Like other on-demand services, you'll basically be able to listen to whatever song you want, as iHeartMedia has already signed deals with all the major labels.
iHeartRadio is also launching iHeartRadio Plus, a different subscription service that offers an "enhanced radio experience." iHeartRadio has offered the ability to listen to ad-supported radio through its app for quite some time, but this will give you some extra features.
The company did not mention the price on either new plan, but $9.99 per month has become the industry standard for the full on-demand experience.
Radio + On-demand
iHeartMedia says it's not completely ditching its radio DNA with these new plans.
iHeartRadio All Access will "include a full on demand music collection experience – but one still tied directly to radio," the company wrote.
What does that mean? One aspect: “For the first time ever, when listeners hear a new or favorite song on the radio they can instantly replay a song and even save it directly to a playlist."
As a comphrensive on-demand music library has become a commodity, streaming services have tried to compete on discovery tools. Spotify has scored big with its robot-curated playlists like Discover Weekly.
iHeartMedia believes that radio, for many people, can prove a compelling discovery tool to pair with an on-demand library. "73 percent of consumers, which include users of on demand music services, continually cite radio as their primary source of music discovery," the company wrote. "iHeartRadio’s new on demand offering will allow listeners to bridge the divide between music discovery and music collecting."
iHeartMedia isn't the only radio giant getting into the on-demand game. Pandora is readying its own complete on-demand package, and recently launched a souped-up version of its radio product for $4.99 a month.
iHeartMedia says it has over a quarter of a billion monthly listeners in the U.S.
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