Slacker Listening Times Increase Following February Redesign

Back in February, Slacker Radio was given a massive design overhaul, with the older clunky interface being replaced with a white, easier-to-navigate alternative. That change was accompanied by the addition of new features, as well, all with the goal of helping the service compete with the likes of Pandora and other similar offerings. Now the numbers are in, and it turns out the redesign did more than expected.

Since the changes made earlier this year, the Internet radio service experienced an increase in new subscribers to the tune of between 10 and 20-percent, with the numbers breaking down to between half and one-million. That's not all, however, with the service also experiencing an increase in the amount of time its users – which tally in at 35 million, active users unknown – spend listening to music with the service.

Said Slacker Radio's CEO Jim Cady: "Listening time since launch has also gone up by 25% largely because of the more approachable interface and new programming. We had expected it to go up. We didn't expect it to go up that much." In addition, the service has – much like Pandora – seen a big jump in the number of songs being streamed via a mobile device.

Out of the total number of hours spent listening to the service, 2/3rds of them are streamed via a mobile device, such as a smartphone or a tablet. In light of this, Slacker is looking into offering its service as a bundle option with a carrier or two (or three, etc.) It doesn't plan to stop there, however, also saying that being offered via infotainment systems in cars is a big goal. The company is reportedly in talks with GM, Ford, Honda, and other big-name auto makers.

[via Billboard]