SAN FRANCISCO – Rdio has launched its free Internet radio and on-demand subscription service in 24 new markets across Central America, the Caribbean and Asia Pacific, the music streaming service announced Thursday.
As part of the expansion, Rdio said that it is partnering with mobile phone network provider Digicel in the new markets and in an additional seven regions to create a unique offering designed to customize the streaming experience. Shaw is an investor in Rdio's holding company Pulser Media plus is its marketing, content and promotional partner in Canada.
As Rdio’s sales and marketing arm in each region, Digicel will offer its prepaid data customers 30 minutes of free Rdio Internet radio listening per day on their mobile phones without accruing data usage charges. The two companies also pledged to collaborate on curating playlists and stations plus to develop and launch a pay structure that will fit the mobile usage behavior of Digicel’s 14 million customers.
“Launching Rdio in each of these markets is a huge milestone for the company,” said CEO Anthony Bay, in the news release. “We are excited to bring the vibrant music of these regions onto Rdio for the world to hear while also providing users in each new market access to international artists. Digicel will be instrumental in shaping the streaming experience locally and we look forward to a continued fruitful partnership with them.”
Effective Thursday, Rdio is now available in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, St Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos and Vanuatu. In addition to the new markets where Rdio is launching, Rdio’s exclusive partnership with Digicel is effective in French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Martinique, Bonaire, El Salvador and Panama.
Rdio offers a catalog of over 32 million songs in 85 countries and territories worldwide.
