iHeartRadio Launches Tiered Subscription Services From $4.99 Per Month

Two new subscription services have been released from iHeartRadio in beta for iOS and Android.

HeartRadio Plus ($4.99 a month) and iHeartRadio All Access powered by Napster ($9.99 a month) will be the first to offer a service adding on demand functionality and interactivity to live radio. The services are expected to be fully available on mobile and desktop in January.

iHeartRadio Plus:  

• Replay: Instantly replay for songs from the radio and then return to the live radio station in progress
• Live and custom Artist Radio stations: Save button can instantly save songs from radio directly to My Music playlist for playback any time
• Search and Play: Songs from a library with millions of tracks
• Unlimited skips: When listening to custom Artist Radio stations there will no longer be a limit on the number of song skips

iHeartRadio All Access powered by Napster:

• Combines Libraries: Interactive radio functionally of iHeartRadio Plus will be complete with personal music collections and libraries linked seamlessly to the radio
• Flexibility: Listen to music when you want; No playback cap and users have the ability to reorder, delete and sequence the playlist experience as well as manage unlimited playlists
• Offline listening: Take your music and playlists with you everywhere you go, even when you don’t have a data connection

With more than 850 radio stations in 150 markets that reach over a quarter of a billion monthly listeners across the U.S, iHeartMedia has the largest national reach of any radio or television outlet in America. In addition, 84 percent of iHeartRadio users do not currently subscribe to an on demand service.

“10 times more Americans listen to radio every month than use a subscription service ­ so the debut of iHeartRadio Plus and iHeartRadio All Access powered by Napster is a unique opportunity to capture these non-music subscribers with an on demand service built around radio,” said Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia. “Whereas the LP, CD and music downloads are the ancestors of all current on demand services, the ancestor for our new on demand offerings is broadcast radio. By combining radio’s popularity and reach with interactive on demand functionality, we have created the first fully differentiated streaming music service for consumers.”

“iHeartRadio Plus and iHeartRadio All Access powered by Napster are revolutionizing how we think of live radio,” said Darren Davis, President of iHeartRadio. “With features such as personal music libraries and playlists, the ability to search and play any song instantly, and the option to save and replay songs directly from live and custom radio listening, our new iHeartRadio on demand offerings are fundamentally changing the way consumers interact with live radio at an unprecedented level. We are introducing a service like no other to tens of millions of consumers across dozens of devices, and also driving massive awareness of the new service to more than a quarter of a billion Americans a month through our broadcast stations alone, which presents a major revenue growth opportunity for our very important strategic partners – artists and the music industry.”

iHeartMedia partnered with Napster to power the music technology back office behind iHeartRadio All Access. Napster brought their depth of experience in on-demand music delivery, customer billing, data and analytics and rights holders’ payments to complement the iHeartRadio-based application.

“iHeartMedia has a unique opportunity to shine a spotlight on the tremendous value premium streaming services bring to music fans, and to the music community at large,” said Mike Davis, Napster CEO. “We’re honored that iHeartMedia selected the Napster platform and brand to power a great music experience for consumers, and we’re excited to play a role in what will be a successful launch.”

Aside from the two new subscription on-demand services, iHeartRadio will remain free.