The major labels have licensed a new free streaming music app in the US, which makes its money by encouraging users to share songs and advertising.
[Update: it appears that while both Sony Music and Universal music have licensed the app, Warner is yet to agree a deal.]
BOOMiO, which has been likened to ‘Spotify plus Snapchat plus Twitter’ says it is attempting to ‘bring the communal experience back to music, and to give people a fun and easy way to share full-length, licensed songs’.
Users search for a song of their choice and ‘BOOM’ (share) it to a friend, a group of friends, or across their other social networks. At the end of each song, the recipient is given a call to action: re-share for another play or purchase the song via the Apple iTunes store.
As such, the company says that BOOMiO is constructed around a model that compensates artists when their work is shared. Users get something – another play – in return for engaging with the ad.
Brands have several ways to integrate themselves into the platform, including on the homepage, when a user gets to the end of a BOOM List, or to start a crowdsourced BOOM List of their own.
“BOOMiO adds a new layer in music consumption,” said PJ Pedroni, co-founder and EVP of Sales at BOOMiO.
“We are moving away from the ‘set it and forget it’ listening experience to a screen-facing, user engagement that creates an opportunity to connect music with brands using a value exchange. Like music, brands have become a big part of a person’s identity. Until now there hasn’t been a reason for a brand to be integrated into a one-to-one or one-to-many chat. BOOMiO naturally integrates brands with one of the things we love most: Music.”
You don’t need to have a BOOMiO account to play songs that are shared with you – tracks are playable in one tap. Users can build friend-sourced playlists that can be added to in real time.
BOOMio says this ‘is ideal for parties, road trips, workouts and other social situations, and lends itself well to potential brand integrations and sponsorships’.
Inside the app is a messaging application where users can communicate one to one or one to many (group threads) with anyone in their BOOMiO network (either “friend” or “follower”). Music can be shared directly within these threads and across outside social channels via “crowd booms.”
“I’ve spent my entire career in radio, with an eye towards helping artists and labels find innovative ways to promote themselves, engage with fans, and ultimately monetize their work,” said Bob Case, co-founder and EVP of Content at BOOMiO.
“For artists and labels, finding new ways to connect with fans and deliver an experience around the content they’ve created is always the goal. Combining promotion and revenue with an experience that fans love is like the holy grail, and we’re excited to see artists and labels responding to us as positively as they are.”
BOOMiO also gives artists and labels a new promotional avenue by allowing them to ‘BOOM’ tracks to existing social channels including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
BOOMio says that all tracks are playable in one tap, and ‘because they are licensed, present a new revenue opportunity for artists and labels’.
BOOMiO is free to download from the iTunes store in the US only. BOOMiO for Android will be available in early 2015.
“Even in today’s mobile-first, streaming world, it’s a challenge to share music and enjoy it with your friends,” said Randy Kath, co-founder and CEO, BOOMiO. “BOOMiO is a simple, fun way to share full-length licensed tracks.
“Instagram changed the way we share photos by making it a fun, social experience — with BOOMiO we’re bringing a similar approach to music. We also know how important it is to have artists and labels behind us, and we’ve created a model that brings new promotional and monetization opportunities to the table.”
At launch, BOOMiO will have one million songs in its library, and says it will ‘continue to ingest tracks from the major labels until all complete catalogues are available’.
BOOMiO’s artist-first approach provides musicians with a new way to promote and monetize their music and engage with their biggest fans.
Created by music insiders, technology executives, and serial entrepreneurs, BOOMiO is the first dedicated music-sharing app to launch with full support from the major labels.
It says that ‘unlike anything else offered by streaming services. This dashboard provides artists with real-time analytics that they can use to track a song by shares, plays, or purchases, and also includes heat maps, geographic data, and more’.Music Business Worldwide
