A new startup debuted today that promises to deliver personalized satellite radio:
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A new service is taking personal taste in music to another level by combining elements of Internet radio, portable music and satellite distribution.
A startup led by a team of veterans in the digital music arena seeks to offer “personal radio” that lets users choose the tunes, genres or artists they want, and listen to them on the go.
(….)
Here’s how it works:
Users who log on to Slacker can begin listening to music from more than 10,000 stations that are built around specific artists and preprogrammed genres. Users also can create their own stations by indicating what types of songs they want and letting the Slacker “DJ” _ a mostly automated system based on complicated algorithms _ fill out the station program with more content.
Customization adjustments to stations include choosing “more popular” versus “more eclectic,” or newer versus older music. Users can click on a button to ban a certain song. Clicking on a “heart” button will mark the track as a favorite and cause the song to be played more often on that station.
Users also will be able to e-mail their friends with their favorite stations.
After the Slacker players become available, users will be able to have their personal radio stations delivered to the portable devices. (Slacker says it will push radio tracks to the portable players or car kits, on which they’ll be stored for playback. The gadgets will not have to be connected to a wireless network for playback, the company said. They’ll refresh the music data whenever the devices detect a Wi-Fi or satellite connection.)
Hmm, sounds like a competitor to XM and Sirius to me.
