Slacker scores label deals for mobile Internet radio
updated 01:50 pm EDT, Thu September 20, 2007
Slacker Player Label Deals
Slacker today revealed that it had struck deals with all four major music labels. The service now gives the company's web radio and upcoming Portable Player access to a much larger catalog of music from EMI, Sony-BMG, Universal, and Warner; smaller independents such as Beggar's Group and Matador Records are also part of the deal, Slacker says. The agreement lets users either stream music directly from the Internet or store it locally on the device's internal hard drive to create personalized radio stations without the need for an active connection.
The company has not changed the original hardware of the unreleased player and maintains the same storage levels, ranging from 2GB of flash to a 120GB rotating disk. It also lists the satellite car kit that will let the Portable Player access live streams without a Wi-Fi link. Neither device has received a definitive launch, but are anticipated soon with a player costing between $150 and $350 and songs purchasable as permanent copies for $1 each. [via Orbitcast]
