A new player on the scene is poised to revolutionize how we listen to music. Upstart company Slacker, maker of the self-titled digital audio player, seeks to claim a section of the music market by giving users unprecedented control and access to a wide range of music genres.

 

Slacker lets its users create and customize their favorite radio stations online and then sync them up to the player. Once Slacker users have loaded their players with music, they can tailor their listening experiences. Personalization options include adjusting your stations via sliders to play more popular versus more eclectic music, newer versus older music, or even to play more tracks tagged as favorites. Slacker users can automatically save and refresh their customized stations via Wi-Fi or USB.

 

So how much will this cost you? Besides the cost of the Slacker player (ranging from $149 for 2GB to $349 for 120GB), the music is absolutely free. Like standard radio, the free music will come interspersed with advertisements; however, these ads will be tailored to match listeners' musical tastes. You can skip six only songs per hour. Slacker also presents music-lovers with commercial-free listening and unlimited track-skipping for the low price of $7.50 per month. This Premium Radio solution also lets users save any radio track to the player. Users can load Slacker with MP3 and WMA tracks as well as video that can be viewed on the player's four-inch display. Besides video, users can also view album art, reviews, artists' photos and bios, and visualizations.

 

Slacker looks to introduce many innovations, but how will it fare in the marketplace? David Card, vice president and senior analyst at Jupiter Research, thinks Slacker has an uphill battle ahead, despite its revolutionary new features.

 

"It's a difficult idea--that makes it a challenge from a market perspective," he said. "Slacker markets its product as radio, so they should push it as 'better radio than radio' to help consumers grasp the concept. The concept of free music is definitely intriguing."

 

Despite believing that Slacker will initially have trouble turning a profit in an iPod-dominated marketplace, Card is optimistic. "Like Apple, Slacker isn't in the business of renting music; consumers can purchase tracks, which is what everyone is accustomed to." For many, the all-you-can-eat services are confusing, and "Slacker has done a good thing in avoiding that model," he said. Plus, the $7.50 per month for the premium service is cheaper than most unlimited download subscriptions.

 

Slacker's plan to introduce a satellite-radio car kit in the second half of 2007, which will allow users to tune into their favorite artists and update playlists while on the road, may be a case of over-ambition, as both Sirius and XM, the two faces of satellite radio, have experienced financial problems, Carr said.

 

Spreading the word about Slacker's unique features will be the first step to its success. Slacker has released a free public beta of its Personal Radio service and is available now at Slacker's Web site. The Premium Radio service is set to arrive in Q2, with the Slacker digital audio player to follow this summer. For more on this breakthrough digital audio player, check out our exclusive interview with Slacker's CEO, Dennis Mudd.

 

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