Slacker On-Demand Apps Released for iOS including iPad, Android, Blackberry

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

There was some question about how many 'actual listeners' Slacker has. From what the press release says they have 25 Million listeners while 300,000 of those are paying customers (wonder how many of that last number are from the old XM before it became SiriusFM?). You'd figure paying monthly as opposed to yearly would be the more popular option to get more people to pony up. Especially considering what $9.99 gets you.

It was only $3.99 if you did it yearly before. People are not willing to pay for internet radio or pay for the enhancements it gives you.

If you have yearly you can upgrade and they take your remaining balance and apply that to N months of premium. So if you just renewed, you would have 12 * $3.99 credit. They would take that and divide it by $9.99 and give you that many months credit.

 

[DAB]

I sent an email to Slacker support to see what can be done, if anything. I set up a new account to listen to the free month of Premium. I'd like to continue it, but I don't want to lose the 6 months remaining on my Plus subscription in addition to the numerous hearts/bans I've made over the years.

I hope I'm not SOL!

No, you shouldn't be SOL, but you'll want them to upgrade your existing account, not the one you created. I wouldn't even try to complicate it by trying to get them to do anything with your new account. They will be able to upgrade you manually and apply your existing fee to your new premium subscription.

It was only $3.99 if you did it yearly before. People are not willing to pay for internet radio or pay for the enhancements it gives you.

Yeah it seems weird to me that folks will sign up and listen, deal with the commercials rather than pay the low fees. Seems totally bizarre to me.

My one big compliant in all this is them locking your account to a single portable device. This really sucks for those that have multiple devices. There is a bit of a work around, but having to keep up with it to pull that off is a PITA. I was hoping they would do what Rhapsody did and at least offer a discounted rate for multiple devices. No such luck though!

If all you listen too is web and a portable device you won't have this issue. It is only for those with multiple portable devices this will become an issue.

I was also surprised to read that Slacker has an 8 million song library. However, I guess that is true, but the fact is that they don't have 8 millions songs that can be cached, that number is much, much lower! If all you do is stream, which I rarely do because I prefer to cache, then this wouldn't impact you either. MOG and Rhapsody still kick Slackers ass on licensing music for caching.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

No, you shouldn't be SOL, but you'll want them to upgrade your existing account, not the one you created. I wouldn't even try to complicate it by trying to get them to do anything with your new account. They will be able to upgrade you manually and apply your existing fee to your new premium subscription.



Yeah it seems weird to me that folks will sign up and listen, deal with the commercials rather than pay the low fees. Seems totally bizarre to me.

My one big compliant in all this is them locking your account to a single portable device. This really sucks for those that have multiple devices. There is a bit of a work around, but having to keep up with it to pull that off is a PITA. I was hoping they would do what Rhapsody did and at least offer a discounted rate for multiple devices. No such luck though!

If all you listen too is web and a portable device you won't have this issue. It is only for those with multiple portable devices this will become an issue.

I was also surprised to read that Slacker has an 8 million song library. However, I guess that is true, but the fact is that they don't have 8 millions songs that can be cached, that number is much, much lower! If all you do is stream, which I rarely do because I prefer to cache, then this wouldn't impact you either. MOG and Rhapsody still kick Slackers ass on licensing music for caching.

From what I gather, the portable device restriction, like all things that spoil our fun, came at the request of our freinds at the RIAA.

They may want to introduce 'family plans' for discounts but I know part of their liscencing is based upon price charged (RIAA wants to make sure you don't get free music) so that may not be possible.

 

[DAB]

From what I gather, the portable device restriction, like all things that spoil our fun, came at the request of our freinds at the RIAA.

They may want to introduce 'family plans' for discounts but I know part of their liscencing is based upon price charged (RIAA wants to make sure you don't get free music) so that may not be possible.

Oh I don't think Slacker did this on their own clearly this was a RIAA requirement in order for them to secure their licensing.

I know that doing multiple devices on an account is possible, because Rhapsody does it right now.

MOG has no such restriction at this time, but they were the first to secure their license and it is possible they are paying more royalty fees in order to avoid the restriction. So, Slacker may have opted for a cheaper licensing fee.

Then again it could be that when MOG has to re-up their licensing agreement that they too will have to implement this restriction.

I would have no problem paying a few more dollars for a 2 or 3 devices, but lets do it.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Oh I don't think Slacker did this on their own clearly this was a RIAA requirement in order for them to secure their licensing.

I know that doing multiple devices on an account is possible, because Rhapsody does it right now.

MOG has no such restriction at this time, but they were the first to secure their license and it is possible they are paying more royalty fees in order to avoid the restriction. So, Slacker may have opted for a cheaper licensing fee.

Then again it could be that when MOG has to re-up their licensing agreement that they too will have to implement this restriction.

I would have no problem paying a few more dollars for a 2 or 3 devices, but lets do it.

Rhapsody and MOG probably don't have to go to the the RIAA to ask for changes to their liscences. If they do, they may also change although perhaps they are paying more money for their liscenes so that excempts them.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Just to add, it looks like Slacker may have fixed the 2 bugs which I had with the previous version so even without on-demand functionality, I am very happy with this release so far.

 

[mrpacs]

Keep in mind that with Slacker, you can LISTEN or stream to as many portable devices as you desire. You can only CACHE to 1 portable device. I only stream so this doesn't affect me.

 

[DAB]

Rhapsody and MOG probably don't have to go to the the RIAA to ask for changes to their liscences. If they do, they may also change although perhaps they are paying more money for their liscenes so that excempts them.

Well their license is only for a specific period of time, so at some point they all have to go back to the well and it is then that they get hit. Since Rhapsody is already doing the restriction, they just offer a multiple device discount. That just leaves MOG without any devices restriction, which will likely come at renewal time.

Just to add, it looks like Slacker may have fixed the 2 bugs which I had with the previous version so even without on-demand functionality, I am very happy with this release so far.

Yeah so far the only issue I am having is on the iPad where the art work doesn't update without 3G or WIFI even with your stations cached.

 

[DAB]

Keep in mind that with Slacker, you can LISTEN or stream to as many portable devices as you desire. You can only CACHE to 1 portable device. I only stream so this doesn't affect me.

Yes and I totally hate streaming. So for me this change is a royal pain in the ass. I would much rather cache music and not have to be tied to WIFI or 3G. But then I am on the road a lot, so it impacts me GREATLY! It also currently gives MOG and even Rhapsody an advantage over Slacker because Rhapsody offers me the ability to cache multiple devices and right now MOG has no restrictions whatsoever. MOG is currently in the process of adding pre-programmed radio stations too, which is another advantage that Slacker has that they won't have much longer as an exclusive. Then again it makes me wonder when if they have to update their license to create stations if at that point they will have to do the restriction too.

I am determined to settle for one service, so right now MOG is the obvious choice for me. But I've been a Slacker supporter for so long, I am going to give them an opportunity to offer a multiple device discount. If they don't then I'll make the decision that meets my needs.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Yes and I totally hate streaming. So for me this change is a royal pain in the ass. I would much rather cache music and not have to be tied to WIFI or 3G. But then I am on the road a lot, so it impacts me GREATLY! It also currently gives MOG and even Rhapsody an advantage over Slacker because Rhapsody offers me the ability to cache multiple devices and right now MOG has no restrictions whatsoever. MOG is currently in the process of adding pre-programmed radio stations too, which is another advantage that Slacker has that they won't have much longer as an exclusive. Then again it makes me wonder when if they have to update their license to create stations if at that point they will have to do the restriction too.

I am determined to settle for one service, so right now MOG is the obvious choice for me. But I've been a Slacker supporter for so long, I am going to give them an opportunity to offer a multiple device discount. If they don't then I'll make the decision that meets my needs.

My understanding is there is nothing you can do to cache on multiple devices short of creating 2 different account ids. This is a royal pain as you would not get your favourites and banns copied from one account to another.

They should allow a way to do this even if it means charging you $18.98/month (although that is a bit excessive to me). Right now they don't even have that option.

 

[DAB]

My understanding is there is nothing you can do to cache on multiple devices short of creating 2 different account ids. This is a royal pain as you would not get your favourites and banns copied from one account to another.

They should allow a way to do this even if it means charging you $18.98/month (although that is a bit excessive to me). Right now they don't even have that option.

Well being a tester, I have multiple accounts already and while there is no easy way to copy a playlist and/or stations, it can be accomplished by sending an email link. Takes time if you have 24 stations like I do. Though to be honest I've revamped most of my stations and switched them to playlist. I am mainly only caching pre-programmed Slacker stations now.

I think given that most people don't pay at all, there is probably not enough demand for them to offer multiple devices discounts. I can understand that, but don't mean I have to like it. The one reason I like Slacker is for there pre-programmed stations that can be cached. Rhapsody has some great stations, but you can only stream them. I enjoy the Slacker stations because they add music that I may not capture in my playlist, which adds a bit of spice to my listening. MOG streaming stations that are created by adding like artist. It really isn't very good in my opinion, not nearly as good as Slackers stations.

 

[Music_Rube]

No, you shouldn't be SOL, but you'll want them to upgrade your existing account, not the one you created. I wouldn't even try to complicate it by trying to get them to do anything with your new account. They will be able to upgrade you manually and apply your existing fee to your new premium subscription.

I hope that happens. I haven't heard anything back from Slacker support as of yet. I'm sure they are really busy right now. I love Slacker and now their On-Demand. I really would hate to lose all of the work I've done on my stations. My '80s hits station is so finely tuned to my liking now!

 

[mrpacs]

Yes and I totally hate streaming. So for me this change is a royal pain in the ass. I would much rather cache music and not have to be tied to WIFI or 3G. But then I am on the road a lot, so it impacts me GREATLY! It also currently gives MOG and even Rhapsody an advantage over Slacker because Rhapsody offers me the ability to cache multiple devices and right now MOG has no restrictions whatsoever. MOG is currently in the process of adding pre-programmed radio stations too, which is another advantage that Slacker has that they won't have much longer as an exclusive. Then again it makes me wonder when if they have to update their license to create stations if at that point they will have to do the restriction too.

I am determined to settle for one service, so right now MOG is the obvious choice for me. But I've been a Slacker supporter for so long, I am going to give them an opportunity to offer a multiple device discount. If they don't then I'll make the decision that meets my needs.

You're spot on DAB. We ALL need to do what is best for each of us.

 

[DAB]

I hope that happens. I haven't heard anything back from Slacker support as of yet. I'm sure they are really busy right now. I love Slacker and now their On-Demand. I really would hate to lose all of the work I've done on my stations. My '80s hits station is so finely tuned to my liking now!

They are not real good at responding to support email in a timely manner. I'd suggest you contact them via their chat support, that will fast track the issue for you.

 

[mrpacs]

I hope that happens. I haven't heard anything back from Slacker support as of yet. I'm sure they are really busy right now. I love Slacker and now their On-Demand. I really would hate to lose all of the work I've done on my stations. My '80s hits station is so finely tuned to my liking now!

Use their Chat Support. It's instantaneous.

 

[MikeJW]

any word on if the new premium service works on the squeezebox boom? this will probably determine whether i upgrade or not.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Well being a tester, I have multiple accounts already and while there is no easy way to copy a playlist and/or stations, it can be accomplished by sending an email link. Takes time if you have 24 stations like I do. Though to be honest I've revamped most of my stations and switched them to playlist. I am mainly only caching pre-programmed Slacker stations now.

I think given that most people don't pay at all, there is probably not enough demand for them to offer multiple devices discounts. I can understand that, but don't mean I have to like it. The one reason I like Slacker is for there pre-programmed stations that can be cached. Rhapsody has some great stations, but you can only stream them. I enjoy the Slacker stations because they add music that I may not capture in my playlist, which adds a bit of spice to my listening. MOG streaming stations that are created by adding like artist. It really isn't very good in my opinion, not nearly as good as Slackers stations.

From what RomeE has said on the Slacker forums, the multiple device restriction only applies to Premium users. Plus users can cache to multiple devices.

Sounds to me like Slacker took the easy way and restricted all caching rather than restricting the particular type of caching available to Premium users which has the RIAA restriction.

 

[DAB]

From what RomeE has said on the Slacker forums, the multiple device restriction only applies to Premium users. Plus users can cache to multiple devices.

Sounds to me like Slacker took the easy way and restricted all caching rather than restricting the particular type of caching available to Premium users which has the RIAA restriction.

RomeE better go back and check his facts, because I just tried this with a Plus account and that restriction is indeed in place for PLUS and PREMIUM accounts.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

RomeE better go back and check his facts, because I just tried this with a Plus account and that restriction is indeed in place for PLUS and PREMIUM accounts.

I asked him twice. I thought it was odd. You should mention this on the Slacker boards.

 

[DAB]

I asked him twice. I thought it was odd. You should mention this on the Slacker boards.

I have actually sent a message via other means to get a clarification on this. Unfortunately the one PLUS account I had up till a few days ago has been converted to premium, so I can't test this out again. Though I am half tempted to spend $3.99 for one month just to test it myself. Perhaps this has been changed since the release, I guess we'll find out. It is good news if that is the case, I hope it is!