MUMBAI: Sounday, the 100 per cent Italian digital music ecosystem to support the growth of the music business, announces the acquisition of Soundtracker, the U.S. brand that created the first mobile application for music streaming based on geo-social networking. This operation expands the Sounday ecosystem, bolstering the start-up’s role on the international market through the integration of technological assets that enable all those who operate in the sector to analyse music consumption.
The operation, which was officialised during Sounday’s Board of Directors which met at the company’s headquarters in Cagliari, consists in the acquisition by Sounday of the technology of Soundtracker, the first social radio to create personal stations and a unique social network based on users’ geo-localised experience. The choice of investing in this operation is based on Sounday’s determination to continue to play a leading role in the evolution of the business by further developing its product and its potential on mobile through the valorization of a successful innovation like that of Soundtracker, and to bring the skills and technologies of the digital music ecosystem into new markets, including the American and British ones.
The offering that Sounday today proposes to the music sector has in fact enormous growth potential in terms of business environments, technological availability and geographic diffusion, an opportunity that becomes reality thanks to the agreement reached with Soundtracker, to a proprietary mobile technology and to partnerships already existing with leading operators like The Source and Symphonic Distribution. Sounday will now be able to make available to artists revolutionary labels and brand solutions and strategic information to support their evolution and economic growth.
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In particular the acquisition of Soundtracker will enable Sounday to have a proprietary mobile technology that will form part of its current development strategy for services for latest-generation devices, expanding already existing solutions like Spotlight and Time Radio and supporting the birth of new mobile products with the aim of contributing to the success of emerging labels and artists.
In addition, geolocation and proximity marketing, which represent the heart of Soundtracker, will introduce a new business line, leading Sounday to play an important role in the world of big data and of IoT, that is, that form of widespread Internet (Internet of Things), that represents the near future of operators in the music sector who want to continue to be competitive and effective on the market. Being present in these new areas allows Sounday to offer value added to customers – brands, labels and artists – by leveraging tools for the analysis of music consumption, on innovative music solutions applied to sectors like automotive, telecommunications and entertainment and new methods of monetization in order to ensure important experiences to music lovers all over the world while still safeguarding their digital identity.
“In a market like the music sector in which the dynamics of creation, distribution and use are profoundly changed compared to the past, it becomes increasingly important for us to generate value for those who operate in the sector. The operation to acquire the Soundtracker brand and technology came about precisely to respond to this need through the synergy of innovation and know-how gained over the years by us at Sounday and by Soundtracker in key countries like the U.S. and the U.K. With this technological investment our ambition to become a reference point on the music and global markets adds a new boost to our growth, enriching the current mobile solutions, opening to internationalization and adding a strategic tool for analysis of music consumption. After having completed the acquisition of 100 per cent of Kiver Digital Srl in late 2013, and developed new products, today we are proud to see the Digital Music Ecosystem further compete itself by transforming itself into a 360° access point and a partner able to accompany talents towards success,” declared Sounday founder and CEO Giuseppe Ravello.
Soundtracker currently has consolidated partnerships with key players like Google, Amazon, Ford and Toyota, and 1.3 million registered users, of which 60 per cent are located in the United States and England. Launched in 2009 in San Francisco, the service is available in 10 languages* on all stores**, offers a catalogue of over 32 million music tracks accessible without limits of time or space and 2 million artists, making it possible to create customized radios and to share them in real time with friends and lovers of the same genre present nearby.
