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After a lengthy beta process, Slacker is now offering on-demand mobile music streaming for $10/month. Previously, Slacker would simply generate stations based on your tastes, and let you cache songs on your phone, skip tracks as much as you want, and get rid of ads for $3.99/month. In addition to those features, the new Slacker Premium will let you play specific tracks, albums, or artists, as well as build playlists that can stream wirelessly to your phone.
I’ve been using this app on BlackBerry for the last month or two, and though it’s great to be able to pull up individual tracks, they’re not all available, presumably due to licensing restrictions. Licensing fees also explains the higher pricetag, though it’s certainly not any more expensive then comparable services, like Rdio. Slacker and other premium mobile music services are facing stiff competition from Google, which is now hosting about as many music tracks in the cloud as anyone could want for free. Of course, that involves you picking and uploading your tunes to the cloud, which doesn’t offer much in the way of discovery, but is all serious audiophiles need to stay entertained.
In any case, you can download Slacker for Android, BlackBerry, or iPhone below. You can listen for free if you like, but head on over here to check out the new subscription option.
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
