Slacker music service relaunches, takes aim at Spotify with new iOS app
Just shy of its sixth birthday, streaming music service Slacker flipped the switch on a major relaunch today that it hopes will put it ahead of competitors like Spotify and Pandora. The company is maintaining a free-to-stream, radio-style model for all users but also has two paid tiers that allow for more listening options.
The new service is built on a library of more than 13 million songs, which Slacker is saying makes its offering 10 times that of Pandora's. (But it's a bit shy of Spotify's 15 million tracks as of last summer.) Another of Slacker's biggest new selling points: More than 200 "stations" of curated music in various genres.
While all users are able to stream an unlimited number of tracks with commercial interruption, a US$3.99-per-month Slacker Radio Plus subscription removes ads and restrictions on how many songs can be skipped in a row. For those who want more, a $9.99-per-month Slacker Premium subscription offers direct access to every song in the service's library and the ability to create custom playlists.
We'll have a deeper look at the new service soon, but for now you can check out what it has to offer via the web or the redesigned Slacker iOS app now available on the App Store.
