Blending the best
elements of Internet radio, social networks, and location-based
mobile apps, soundtrckr has launched a free application and
website that allows users to connect their mobile devices to the
social and geographic aspects of music discovery.
Users
can create and broadcast their own fully licensed radio stations, tap
into the streams of other users, and geo-tag places with songs. All
content can be shared on social networks such as Twitter and
Facebook.
Soundtrckr
is available on the iTunes Apps store for the iPhone, the iPod Touch,
Macs, and PCs at:
http://itunes.apple.com/app/soundtrckr/id339473336?mt=8.
The website is also live at http://www.soundtrckr.com.
New applications for Android, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile will be
available in 2010.
Designed
for the mobile environment, soundtrckr allows users, content
owners, sponsors, partners, and licensors to interact in local and
targeted ways. Soundtrckr users can create a musical map of
their favorite places by associating songs to locations. One person
can tag the route of their morning jog with the songs they listen to
while running, and another can tag their neighborhood club with music
by upcoming acts. All users can share and experience each other’s
tags and music, and a ranking system will reward the most active and
followed broadcasters.
"Music
is a shared experience, a way to communicate and connect. It's
intimately tied to the people and places in our daily lives, and
soundtrckr is the first application that recognizes and
facilitates this connection in a concrete way,” said soundtrckr
CEO Daniele Calabrese. "Soundtrckr makes our
cities and friends active participants in the way we experience
music."
Chief
Operating Officer Ken Manning agrees. "There is so much
music available to consumers right now, with few good ways to find
the material that's right for your tastes. Soundtrckr solves
this problem by allowing you to listen to the tunes your friends are
into."
Through
its partnership with MediaNet, soundtrckr offers access
to a music catalog featuring millions of songs from major and
independent labels, aggregators, and distributors. Further licenses
are in place with publishing clearinghouses including American
Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast
Music, Inc. (BMI), SESAC, Inc., and Sound Exchange.
“We are
committed to provide the best experience for both users and
performers. Soundtrckr will provide legally licensed offerings
for users and fair compensation to content owners, publishers, and
partners,” said Chief Financial Officer David Porter.
The
company’s management team has deep experience in the music and
mobile sector. Mr. Calabrese is a former World Bank Communication
Officer and Project Manager. Chief Operating Officer Ken Manning
is also the founder and chairman of betterPropaganda Music, a
leading music discovery site with relationships with more than 600
major and independent labels. Chief Financial Officer David Porter
is the founder and CEO of online music mix-tape company 8tracks,
and previously served as a manager and director of business
development at Internet radio network Live365.
Soundtrckr has
received funding from Lumu Invest in Luxembourg, Romulus
Capital in Boston, and has recently completed an angel round in
the US and Italy. The company was honored as the second most
innovative startup of 2009 at the SMAU high-tech trade show in Milan.
