Las Vegas – Internet radio device maker Livio Radio will produce
a tabletop radio and car radio adapter co-branded with Grooveshark, an online
music site boasting 20 million unique visitors per month and featuring 7
millions songs from mainstream and independent labels and a library of
user-generated music.
The two products are part of a multi-year partnership announced during
CES. The partnership is one of a series of deals Livio has struck recently,
including content and device deals with Dice, Pandora and NPR.
“Livio has done a tremendous job working with digital radio
partners like Pandora and NPR, and we look forward to pushing new product
frontiers with Grooveshark and Livio’s new devices and car solutions,” said
Sam Tarantino, Grooveshark’s CEO and co-founder.
Both companies hope to make Internet audio more accessible to
more users by making it accessible in more home and portable devices.
Grooveshark, which promotes itself as the world’s most
comprehensive on-demand music service, had heretofore been limited to web-connected
computers via its website. The service is ad-supported but offers ad-free
Grooveshark Plus service for $6/month and a new Grooveshark Anywhere, which
enables access to the service from multiple devices, for $9/month.
The car radio adapter consists of a removable control module with
Grooveshark-specific controls atop a flexible stalk with a cigarette lighter
adapter. The kit connects via Bluetooth to a Web-enabled mobile phone to pull
in the Grooveshark site, then transmits the music stream to the car’s stereo
through a blank FM station.
The kit will cost $60 to $80 when it becomes available sometime
this summer. No pricing or availability specifics on the tabletop radio were
available.
Livio previously announced a
with Dice
to offer aftermarket car-audio integration kits that will enable a vehicle’s
factory-installed sound system to play thousands of Internet radio stations
through a connected iPhone.
