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Tag: MixRadio

  • MixRadio rolls out music streaming service on all mobile platforms in APAC

    MixRadio rolls out music streaming service on all mobile platforms in APAC

    MUMBAI: MixRadio is planning to roll-out its music streaming service to Asian consumers by expanding across Android and IOS platforms. The company has also inked a new partnership with HTC.

     

    Known for its ease-of-use and highly personalized music streaming service, the free MixRadio app can now be downloaded from app stores in India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

     

    Previously owned by Microsoft and Nokia and available only on Windows Phone, MixRadio’s recent acquisition by mobile messaging service, LINE, enabled it to launch on Android and iOS platforms. The co-marketing opportunities with LINE presented to MixRadio through the partnership will help drive growth in the Asia Pacific region.

     

    Speaking at Music Matters in Singapore, MixRadio vice president for APAC Jamie Robertson said, “We’re excited to be bringing our personalized and easy-to-use music streaming service to a huge new audience in the Asia Pacific region. For many people this will be the first time they have been able to experience MixRadio. We’re confident they will love the simplicity of the experience, the quality of the personalization we deliver as well as the offline mode which is a unique offering in our industry that lets you take your music anywhere and avoid high data charges.”

     

    We are already available in 31 countries and have been developing and improving our personalized music offering over many years, meaning we combine the benefits of having a heritage in the space with the excitement of launching a new product. We will also continue to deliver a great service to existing users on Windows Phone.”

     

    In its new co-marketing partnership with HTC, MixRadio will exclusively provide music updates for HTC’s BlinkFeed, providing personalized music news tailored to the users’ music tastes.

     

    HTC EMEA president Phil Blair said, “HTC is a pioneer in providing top quality audio experiences via mobile. We were the first smartphone company to combine dual stereo speakers, a finely tuned sound profile and Dolby decoding technology to deliver an end-to-end multi-channel audio solution, HTC BoomSound. The MixRadio partnership is the latest example of HTC investing in delivering rich audio experiences, helping us bring completely personal and relevant music news to our users, so they never miss out on the latest releases and mixes of the music they love.”

     

    MixRadio also offers thousands of curated mixes created by a global team of music experts, and by international stars. Unlike many free music streaming services, MixRadio lets users listen to offline mixes on the move.

  • Music is a natural fit for brands

    Music is a natural fit for brands

    MUMBAI: One cannot deny the strong connection between brands and music in the ever evolving music industry. More and more labels, artists and musicians are becoming aware about brand association that could help them attain a more successful outcome. The second day of the 6th edition of MixRadio Music Connects in Mumbai had CNBC TV-18 editor storyboard Anant Rangaswami lead a panel discussion called “The brand story”. Through this panel, the audience got to learn about the importance of brands in the music ecosystem. The invited panelists included Viacom18 EVP media and business head MTV and MTV Indies Aditya Swami, Bacardi India general manager marketing Ali Imran and Vivanta by Taj GM Manojeet Bhujabal.

    The panel discussed the role of brand partnerships within the music industry. The session started with Branded co founder and CEO and Music Matters president Jasper Donat and indiantelevision.com group founder, CEO and editor in chief Anil Wanvari present an award to Imran, for Bacardi’s excellent brand association with music.

    The key point of the discussion began with understanding how brands develop their strategies when collaborating with music.

    Speaking about Taj’s music connect, Bhujabal elaborated: “Music is a primordial expression for us. Our hotels are well-known but we want to present an alternative life outside the realm of hotels.  It was tough to initially develop a notion for Vivanta.  We started on a basic level through house music. We went onto present Urban Tease, Barn Fest, Divas of Rock and Urban Folk. We also developed the Vivanta Sound Lab series and we look forward to discover emerging talents with fresh content.”

    Imran felt there is no straight substitute for music. He commented, “Music is like oxygen for us. It reaches humans in a way that probably no other passion does. For Bacardi, music is a natural fit considering what the brand stands for, its lineage of parties and celebrating the human spirit.”

    Providing his perspective as a channel head on why brands get associated with a music channel, Aditya Swami explained, “Digital has become a key part of the consumer ecosystem. It has allowed brands to talk to consumers in the language of music. We have attracted brands that want to create conversations and we have successfully done so over the years”.

    Swami added that the presentation of music is of paramount importance in the industry, today. He said, “With brands supporting us, we have managed to showcase original music in the best way possible. Today, a brand like Pepsi is a partner of MTV Indies, a dedicated destination for non-film, non-mainstream music. We have given Pepsi a great platform for people to talk about what the brand is doing for the youth. Music is the voice of youth. It’s not just TV ratings that matters now. Traditional metrics are changing and there is a need to build brand love. Platforms like music are fantastic for this”.

    Swami elaborated further that the music industry has an opportunity to develop within the area of music and brand partnerships. He said, “In the last 12 months, every interesting music idea that we have taken to the market has had at least a brand that is interested, as opposed to taking an idea of a reality show or TV soap where the market has become very saturated. Today, retail and lifestyle products are also part of the music ecosystem”.

    At this point, Rangaswami added that brands might have a set of guidelines that would help attain a more successful outcome. He asked the panel how do the brands decide what kind of music to select when working on a campaign?

    To that, Bhujabal replied: “We initially work with content partners who know the domain well. We enunciate what are the idioms and what to bring on the floor. We look at the audience and decide who we are targeting. After that, it is the job of the content creator to curate”. Bhujabal also emphasised on the importance of social media and social engagement to see how many people are engaged and liking their association with that selected genre of music.

    Ending the panel discussion with some food for thought, Swami commented:  “Today, I do not see enough brands or content players doing interesting cuts of our pop music industry. The content guys need to come up with interesting ideas and content relevant for brands around pop music industry. That is a huge space for us to tap into”.

     

  • MixRadio announces next generation of music personalization

    MixRadio announces next generation of music personalization

    Mumbai: : MixRadio today chose the MixRadio Music Connects event in Mumbai for the global launch announcement of its new natively built recommendation engine. The new dynamic personalization engine is developed specifically to best deliver its one touch ‘Play Me’ personalized radio experience for a global audience.

     

    Over the past 5 years, MixRadio has supplied a legitimate digital music service to over 20 million users in India. Recent research by MixRadio has revealed that mobile music streaming in India will continue grow by a massive 110% in the next four years, meaning 1 in 15 mobile music streamers globally will be in India. The research showed that personal radio will dominate this growth, and having existing data and preferences for millions of users already, MixRadio’s new personalization engine will deliver a new level of experience for Indian listeners.  

     

    The new engine curates a greater breadth of music in a more highly personalized way than ever before. It uses billions of data points from millions of consumers around the world, and uses them to deliver a completely relevant and unique listening experience. Listeners are delivered tracks from deeper into the catalogues of the artists they love, facilitating rediscovery of forgotten favourites alongside discovery of new artists. The new engine evolves the ‘Play Me’ feature of MixRadio to be an even more personal, even more effortless experience.

     

    Jyrki Rosenberg, Head of MixRadio, comments “The challenge our development team have faced is curating overwhelming large catalogue of music, 34 million tracks, for a single listener in a way which is completely relevant and personal. Our promise to listeners is to provide their own personal radio station at the touch of a single button, and the new engine lets us truly deliver on that promise”.

     

    The new engine has been in development and evolution since 2010, MixRadio has been moving listeners to the new recommendation engine over the past months, completing the shift today. Initial reports show the new engine is improving retention and engagement with the service.

     

    Karan Grover, Head of Entertainment for IMEA at MixRadio, adds “This is a break though for Indian music fans in terms of how they enjoy music. The new personalization engine will allow us to build on our heritage in this market and make even better use of our huge breadth of regional music. We have been collecting data points on that music for many years, allowing us to serve up that music accurately to the people who will love it. We filter our recommendation of songs by language and our metadata takes into account not just the singer but the composers, actors and directors associated with a particular song, ultimately allowing us to deliver a richer personalization experience.

     

    We are confident that creating the best possible personalized music streaming experience is the most effective business model we could adopt. If people are loving their listening experience, they are going to listen to more music for longer, which is good news for everyone. This combined with the knowledge we have built up around customizing our offerings to local markets in terms of delivering the right price points and billing options, means we are in a strong position to build on the head start we have in India and flourish in the coming years.”