Deezer buys app Stitcher, a stab at marrying talk and tunes online
Spotify-rival Deezer buys the Pandora of talk radio, aiming to set itself apart from bigger competitors as it makes a quiet entrance into the US.
Deezer bought talk-radio and podcast app Stitcher, the company said Friday, as it targets the 'talk' segment overlooked by other, bigger rivals streaming-music rivals in the US.
Financial terms of the deal were confidential, though Deezer North American Chief Executive Tyler Goldman said in an interview that Deezer would continue to invest in Stitcher following the 'significant investment' its takeover target had already made in itself.
Stitcher, which describes itself as the Pandora of talk, has 35,000 radio shows and podcasts that listeners can hear on devices through iOS and Android apps or on their computers. Deezer said it would continue to support Stitcher's stand-alone apps while also integrating the company's capabilities into its own service.
Streaming-music competition is fierce in the US, but few players are trying to hit the right notes in both tunes and talk. Because 'talk content' -- things like interviews, news reports and podcasts -- is unique in how it's licensed and programmed compared to music, most streaming services have kept talk on the sidelines to make music the star, even though talk represents about a third of terrestrial radio listening and podcasts are heard by about 30 percent of Americans.
Deezer, which has built up a competitive number of subscribers internationally, is just now entering the US, the world's biggest music market. By acquiring Stitcher, it has set its sights on being the best to combine music and talk programming, something to set itself apart as it tries to catch up with US rivals like Spotify, Apple's Beats, and -- in the car -- Sirius XM satellite radio.
'Almost all our users listen to talk, so it makes sense to add that content to our offering,' Goldman said. 'What's most suprising is that other people haven't done anything other than offer music.'
In the US, streaming-music services like Spotify and Pandora have kept most of their focus on music, while fewer, smaller services like TuneIn are online spots to find more talk. iHeart Radio, the streaming arm of terrestrial radio giant iHeart Media (until recently known as Clear Channel), is one of the few streaming services with a large user base to have a significant amounts of both types of content.
Sticher has more than a million monthly active users, Goldman said. Deezer says it notches 16 million monthly active listeners and has 5 million paying subscribers globally. While virtually all of Deezer's subscribers are outside the US, the executive saw the acquisition as a way not only to attract US listeners but also to adapt Stitcher's data, programming and talk-content recommendation skills to Deezer's services abroad. Stitcher has a predominantly US audience -- most of its content is in English, and Goldman said 85% of Stitcher listening hours are in the States.
He added that Deezer would be bringing on the whole Stitcher team, more than 20 people.
UPDATED at 7:30 am PT: With executive comments, further details.
Post a Comment for "Deezer buys app Stitcher, a stab at marrying talk and tunes online"