Slacker Raises $3 Million To Equip More Phones, Cars With Personal Radio Service

Slacker, the ‘personal radio’ company, has raised $3 million in debt funding, an SEC filing reveals. The company confirmed that it has secured extra capital, from all of its existing investors, but wouldn’t say much else.

Asked what the financing round would be used for, the answer I got was: “for scaling the business”.

Pressed, a spokesperson would only say that Slacker has identified a solid business model in 2010 (perhaps the one Michael Arrington deemed ‘not quite a scam but close’?), and that it would be ‘leveraging mobile and automotive relationships’ this year.

Indeed, Slacker’s intention is to partner with car makers to equip vehicles with its personal radio service. A deal with Audi is supposedly already in place, although I was unable to find any information about that on the Web (not even on Slacker’s press releases archive).

Slacker, evidently a rival to Pandora, also offers mobile apps for BlackBerry, iOS, Android, Palm webOS and Windows Mobile / Phone 7. The service is available in the United States and Canada – Slacker boasts licensing agreements with all major labels.

A premium subscription sets you back $4.99 per month or $3.99 per month if you opt for an annual subscription rather than a monthly one. This will enable you to do unlimited skips, cache radio stations and also comes with no ads.

Slacker’s spokesperson says the company will soon debut a true music-on-demand service that will work much like MOG, Rhapsody and Rdio.

Anyone care to place on a bet on if it will launch before Spotify hits the US?

Crunchbase

• SLACKER

Company: Slacker

Website: slacker.com

Launch Date: 2006

Funding: $73.1M

Slacker is the most complete music service on Earth. The company delivers free and subscription-based access to millions of songs and hundreds of expert-programmed stations, plus news, sports and talk, on the web, mobile devices, in-car infotainment systems and consumer electronics platforms. By blending cutting-edge analytics with a team of expert music curators and content programmers, Slacker delivers a seamless music discovery experience and uniquely personalized entertainment. Slacker was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in...

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