Rdio Continues Global Momentum with Acquisition of TastemakerX and Strategic Key Hires

Rdio Continues Global Momentum with Acquisition of TastemakerX and Strategic Key Hires

SAN FRANCISCO, June 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Rdio, a leading worldwide music streaming service, announced today that they are growing their team with the acquisition of leading music discovery and curation service, TastemakerX. The integration includes Rdio's absorption of the entire TastemakerX team, including former CEO and co-founder, Marc Ruxin, and co-founder Sandro Pugilese.

Based in San Francisco, TastemakerX was founded in 2011 to help artists connect with fans. By building core products on mobile and web, TastemakerX enables listeners to discover new music, build and listen to virtual collections, and view artists based on social discovery.

Marc will head corporate marketing, ad sales, brand partnerships, business development, programming and evangelism for Rdio. Prior to founding TastemakerX, Marc was EVP and Chief Innovation Officer at Universal McCann and McCann Erikson. In this capacity worked with start-ups and big media companies on cutting edge brand integrations and helped big brands create better, cooler digital advertising with emerging platforms.

"We have always viewed Rdio as the most strategically aligned music platform to what we have been working on in terms of social and contextual music discovery," said TastemakerX CEO, Ruxin, "they have always put user experience and design at the forefront - we are thrilled to join forces."

Along with the TastemakerX team, Rdio announced two additional key hires. Jim Rondinell joins as the new senior vice president of content licensing and catalog acquisition. He will be responsible for leading catalog acquisitions as Rdio continues to fulfill its vision of offering customers every song ever recorded, on any device, anywhere in the world, instantly. In addition, Mat Bates has joined as head of radio and programming to lead the creation of Rdio's programming voice and radio experience. Bates joins Rdio from Slacker.

"We are excited with all the new talent that has joined Rdio and the acquisition of TastemakerX. Marc and the TastemakerX team share our passion for providing the world's best music experience and they bring added capabilities help accelerate our ability to fulfill that mission," said Anthony Bay, CEO of Rdio.

This announcement follows the news of Rdio's recent acquisition of Dhingana, one of the largest streaming music services in India and its expansion into nine additional countries, making the service available in a total of 60 countries. Rdio's multi-local strategy is delivered through strategic partnerships like Shaw in Canada, BAND in Brazil, and Cumulus in the U.S., among others. The additional executive talent will support the company's continued rapid international growth, catalog expansion and overall product development and market strategy.

About Rdio:

Rdio is the leading digital music service reinventing the way people discover, play, and share music. Play what you want, when you want, or turn on a station for a perfect mix of songs. Listen anywhere -- the web, your phone, even offline -- and follow friends and artists to see what they're playing. Launched in August 2010, Rdio is headquartered in San Francisco and was founded by Janus Friis, the co-creator of Skype. The service is currently available in 60 countries. More information about Rdio is available at: www.rdio.com.

Contact:

Rdio
Lizzie.Garlinghouse@rd.io
415-603-1197

SOURCE Rdio

Rdio

Web Site: http://www.rdio.com


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