Anthony Bay talks state of industry, announces Rdio Live in RAIN Summit West keynote

anthony bay rain summit west 2015 canvasRdio CEO Anthony Bay gave a keynote at RAIN Summit West focused on the need to re-imagine what radio can be in an increasingly digital world. In addition to his summary of the role radio and broadcast can play for today’s listeners, he also announced plans for how his company will be pushing for that integration.

Bay shared details for Rdio Live, which he described as bringing broadcast radio into the application experience. He called it “a win-win-win” that benefits broadcasters, advertisers, and listeners. The service, which hasn’t launched yet, will recommend live broadcast stations based on the data Rdio has about a particular listener. The goal is to make that individual’s choices easier by adding more information and personalization to their experience within the application.

RAIN News spoke to Anthony Bay about Rdio Live, which he said would be rolled out during this year. By bringing radio stations into the Rdio experience, Rdio Live will complement the pureplay streaming stations that are algorithmically programmed. To Bay it’s all radio, and he emphasized that, unlike Pandora which explicitly competes with broadcasting for market share and ad revenue, Rdio is not competitively positioned that way. Part of the strategic motivation for building Rdio Live is to offer broadcasters a productive new way to distribute their signals.

“We do not see ourselves as competitors,” he told RAIN News. “We are allies.”

Get the details about Rdio Live and Bay’s outlook on broadcast in his keynote speech below.

Anna Washenko