TuneIn is a global audio streaming service providing news, radio, sports, music, and podcasts to over 75 million monthly active users.[19]

TuneIn
Initial release2002; 22 years ago (2002)
Platform
Available in22 languages
Type
LicenseProprietary software
Websitetunein.com

TuneIn is operated by the company TuneIn Inc. which is based in San Francisco, California. The company was founded by Bill Moore in 2002 as RadioTime in Dallas, Texas. Users can listen to radio on the TuneIn website, using a mobile app, smart speaker, or another supported device. As of 2016, TuneIn was also available on more than 55 vehicle models.[20] In 2013, the company raised more than $47 million in venture funding from Institutional Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, GV, General Catalyst Partners, and Icon Ventures.[21]

In November 2020, TuneIn appointed Richard Stern as Chief Executive Officer and Rob Deichert as Chief Revenue Officer, with a new investment led by Innovation Endeavors.[22]

Function edit

In August 2015, TuneIn launched a premium service, "TuneIn Premium", that includes audiobooks, sports content from MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA, news content from MSNBC, Al Jazeera, and more.[23] Subscribers had been able to record anything played through the TuneIn service,[24] but the feature was first discontinued in the UK in early 2017, and the rest of the world on September 14, 2020, citing legal issues.[25] However, that feature remains on older versions of the TuneIn Pro app.

In 2017, the company raised $50 million and was valued at $500 million.[26]

In March 2018, TuneIn launched another premium live audio subscription called "TuneIn Live," which offers play-by-play calls from thousands of live sporting events, plus access to premium news stations, talks shows and other content. The company launched the subscription-based radio service exclusively for Alexa-enabled speakers and subscribers can prompt Alexa to stream news programs as well as play-by-play broadcasts of MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL games.[27][28] TuneIn Live marked the first time TuneIn premium content was available over a voice platform.[29] In October 2018, the company launched a commercial-free news offering through TuneIn Premium, which included news programs from CNBC, Fox News Talk, and MSNBC, as well as news podcasts from Progressive Voices, The Economist, and The Wall Street Journal.

From 2019, the TuneIn website and apps allow users to listen to more than 100,000 radio stations from around the world including AM, FM, HD, LP, digital and internet stations, along with podcasts.[30] TuneIn's directory lists various sports, news, talk, and music broadcasts from around the world. TuneIn's website is available in 22 languages, each with its own content tailored for the specific language or region. TuneIn also offers 5.7 million on-demand programs.[31]

Content edit

The platform has deals with various broadcasters of sports, news, talk, and music worldwide like ESPN Radio,[32][unreliable source?] NPR,[33] Public Radio Exchange (PRX), CBC / Radio-Canada, C-SPAN Radio, All India Radio, Emmis Communications,[34][unreliable source?] Hearst Radio, iHeartMedia, Urban One, mvyradio, Wu-Tang Radio (Wu World Radio),[35] ABC Radio and Regional Content (Australia), Bonneville International,[36] Sport Your Argument, talkSPORT,[33] and Westwood One Podcast Network.[37][unreliable source?]

On June 25, 2018, Audacy, Inc. (then known as Entercom) announced that it would move online streaming of its stations from TuneIn to its then-named in-house Radio.com platform, with legacy stations removed July 6, and former CBS Radio stations removed on August 1.[38][unreliable source?] In turn, Cumulus Media joined the TuneIn platform on August 9, 2018.[37][unreliable source?]

On July 26, 2021, iHeartMedia owned-radio stations were added into TuneIn after the two sides agreed on a deal. The deal would also allow TuneIn to gain advertising from IHeartMedia's local sales.[39][40][unreliable source?]

In January 2022, TuneIn launched TuneIn On Air, a new service for non-profit broadcasters, podcasters and long-tail content creators to access the company's apps and connected devices for digital distribution of their content.[41]

In June 21, 2023, Audacy signed a partnership with TuneIn, returning all of its stations, including the former CBS Radio Stations back to the platform as well as adding its podcast library to the service.[42]

Music edit

In May 2018, the company announced it would stream concerts exclusively from several summer music festivals including Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in San Francisco, the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, RI, the Hangout Fest in Gulf Shores, Alabama, the Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware and the Newport Folk Festival.[43][44]

Two months later Cathleen Robertson, better known as DJ Carisma of KRRL, joined TuneIn to head Hip-Hop/R&B curation and artist relations initiatives.[45][unreliable source?] During the winter of 2018, the company announced that John Legend and several other top musicians would take over its "Holiday Hits" station during the season.[46][unreliable source?]

Sports edit

In August 2015, TuneIn announced deals with MLB and Premier League and the Bundesliga for live play-by-play coverage.[47] This also includes the ability to cover the minor league affiliates. In October 2015, NFL announced a deal with TuneIn to broadcast live, play-by-play coverage of all NFL games to its premium subscribers.[48]

On December 22, 2015, the National Hockey League (NHL) announced that TuneIn would gain radio rights to the NHL. TuneIn would create an individual station for every NHL team to simulcast their home market broadcasts on. Additionally, TuneIn would create a replay channel for each team so fans could listen to the games archived. They would also create a 24/7 NHL Channel, and the NHL would embed TuneIn's player onto the NHL.com website. All TuneIn NHL items would be made available to the public for free. The first broadcasts for TuneIn began January 1, 2016.[49][unreliable source?] On September 22, 2022, the Anaheim Ducks announced that TuneIn would become the home for all of their game broadcasts, and launched a 24/7 station called Ducks Stream to broadcast team-related content.[50]

On February 15, 2019, the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball announced that TuneIn would be launching a 24/7 exclusive A's station which would include free streaming of all the team's games within the team's market as well as exclusive team programming.[51] In 2020, it was planned for TuneIn to become the exclusive home of the A's in the Bay Area after the team abandoned radio in the market however the team later stuck a deal with iHeartMedia to have KNEW serve as the team's flagship station and A's Cast moved to the iHeartRadio app.[52][53]

In August 2020, TuneIn removed MLB and NBA content from its platform with no explanation given. The next month, TuneIn also removed NFL content from its platform without explanation.

As of August 2021, NFL content returned on TuneIn's platform.[54]

In March 2022, TuneIn signed a multi-year agreement with Major League Baseball to be an official audio partner of MLB, giving Premium users access to live and on-demand play by play of all games, post-game analysis, and Spanish language broadcasts.[55]

On August 5, 2022, TuneIn announced they would carry all English Premier League matches.[56]

Audiobooks edit

In August 2015, the service launched deals with book publishers, including Penguin Random House and HarperCollins, to provide an audiobook library.[57] In December 2017, TuneIn announced that it would remove audiobooks as of January 15, 2018. However, as of July 7, 2023,[58] TuneIn continues to offer audiobooks via its website.

Partnerships edit

In October 2018, TuneIn partnered with MSNBC to exclusively represent the sales rights of podcast, Bag Man: A Rachel Maddow Original Podcast.[59] TuneIn also partnered with Adobe Advertising Cloud in June 2018 to integrate targeted audio ads to consumers via smart speakers.[60]

In January 2019, TuneIn announced a partnership with professional golfer Greg Norman to integrate its audio streaming platform into his line of connected golf carts called 'Norman's Shark Experience.'[61][unreliable source?]

In November 2021, TuneIn partnered with News Corp-Owned News UK to bring UK-based news, music and sports coverage to the streaming platform.[62][unreliable source?]

In April 2022, TuneIn partnered with Amazon to bring its TuneIn Premium subscription service to all Amazon Alexa-enabled devices.[63]

Legal issues edit

In 2017, TuneIn was sued by Sony Music UK and Warner Music UK, alleging copyright infringement by offering access to international radio stations not licensed for distribution in the United Kingdom. The companies also took issue with a feature in its premium tier (which was later disabled in the country) that allowed users to record broadcasts. In November 2019, the English High Court ruled that despite its arguments that it was merely an aggregator similar to a search engine, the TuneIn service infringed the labels' rights by making streams not licensed in the country available to its users (an infringement of the exclusive right to communicate a work to the public, under EU copyright law). The court granted a request for an appeal.[64][65][unreliable source?][66]

In September 2020, TuneIn began to geoblock all international radio stations for users in the United Kingdom, citing the earlier court order.[67][64]

On March 29, 2021, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court decision, ruling that TuneIn infringed the right of communication to the public.[68]

In May 2022, TuneIn removed United Kingdom stations that were not registered with the music licensing bodies PRS and PPL.[69]

References edit

  1. ^ Tune In Radio on the App Store
  2. ^ Tune In Radio PRO on the App Store
  3. ^ Tune In Radio at the BlackBerry World
  4. ^ Tune In Radio PRO at the BlackBerry World
  5. ^ Roy Martin. Sony deal agreed for TuneIn streaming app Archived January 28, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, radiotoday.ie, 2013.
  6. ^ TuneIn App on Xbox Live | TuneIn on Xbox Archived June 24, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Xbox Support, 2015.
  7. ^ "TuneIn Radio app for the Xbox One offers access to 100,000 streaming radio stations". Windows Central. 2015-06-23. Archived from the original on 2018-05-19. Retrieved 2017-12-18.
  8. ^ Koetsier, John. "Oh, yeah, Ouya gets (even more) media: XBMC and TuneIn". VentureBeat, 2012. Archived October 13, 2017, at the Wayback Machine,
  9. ^ "App Gallery – Welcome to mysqueezebox.com!". www.mysqueezebox.com. Archived from the original on 2018-06-24. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  10. ^ "Radio Time Powers Logitech Squeezebox". Tech2. 2006-12-12. Archived from the original on 2018-06-24. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  11. ^ "Music Streaming Apps and Devices for Multi Room Streaming Audio – HEOS By Denon". usa.denon.com. Archived from the original on 2018-05-27. Retrieved 2015-01-22.
  12. ^ "TuneIn Radio comes to Ford SYNC AppLink, brings 50,000 radio stations with it". engadget.com. 2012-01-10. Archived from the original on 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  13. ^ "Burden, Melissa. "GM pairing its MyLink Radio with TuneIn app on Spark, Sonic RS." Detroit News, 2012". detroitnews.com. Archived from the original on 2022-06-14. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  14. ^ "TuneIn Offers Streaming Online Radio (Including World Radio) in Vehicles, Serving Up Alternative to Pandora or SiriusXM". caranddriver.com. Archived from the original on 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  15. ^ Kim, Ryan (2012-01-10). "TuneIn Radio takes its streaming act on the road". gigaom.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-14. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  16. ^ "2012 JVC receivers feature App Link for iPhone". cnet.com. 2012-01-12. Archived from the original on 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  17. ^ "Parrot ASTEROID Updated with Added Support for Steering Wheel and more". ubergizmo.com. Archived from the original on 2012-12-14. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  18. ^ "Clarion Next Gate brings iPhone apps (and distractions) to your windshield". engadget.com. 2012-05-07. Archived from the original on 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  19. ^ King, Ashley (2022-04-10). "TuneIn Adds French and Dutch Broadcasters to Global Lineup". Digital Music News.
  20. ^ "Online Radio Service TuneIn Comes To Tesla's Model S, Now Available On 200 Platforms". techcrunch.com. 2012-07-24. Archived from the original on 2017-10-13. Retrieved 2017-06-25.
  21. ^ "Strauss, Karsten. "TuneIn Snags $25 Million In Funding, Looks To Grow". Forbes, 2013". forbes.com. Archived from the original on 2017-02-01. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  22. ^ Jacobson, Adam (2020-11-23). "With Funding Injection, TuneIn Welcomes a New CEO | Radio & Television Business Report". Archived from the original on 2021-01-23. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
  23. ^ Roettgers, Janko (2015-08-25). "TuneIn Introduces Paid Tier With MLB Matches, Audio Books to Take On Satellite Radio". variety.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-05. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
  24. ^ Martonik, Andrew (2014-07-29). "TuneIn Radio Pro price jumps from $3.99 to $9.99". Android Central. Archived from the original on 2018-06-24. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
  25. ^ "TuneIn Pro app losing the ability to record live radio". Android Police. 2020-08-28. Archived from the original on 2021-01-15. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  26. ^ Shaw, Lucas (2017-08-11). "TuneIn Raises $50 Million to Prove Online Audio Can Make Money". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2019-04-15. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  27. ^ Liu, Gia (2018-03-30). "TuneIn creates a premium radio service for sports-minded Alexa users". Archived from the original on 2019-04-15. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  28. ^ Crist, Ry. "TuneIn takes Alexa out to the ballgame with premium radio". CNET. Archived from the original on 2019-04-15. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  29. ^ "TuneIn launches a discounted audio subscription for Alexa owners and Prime members". TechCrunch. 2018-03-29. Archived from the original on 2018-12-16. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  30. ^ "TuneIn's Revamp Makes Streaming Audio More Social". Time. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2014-05-08.
  31. ^ "TuneIn launches a discounted audio subscription for Alexa owners and Prime members". TechCrunch. 2018-03-29. Archived from the original on 2022-06-14. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  32. ^ Schmitt, Michael (2012-12-20). "TuneIn partners with ESPN Audio in time for live streaming coverage of college football Bowl games". RAIN. Archived from the original on 2013-08-14.
  33. ^ a b Andrews, Robert (2012-08-29). "Interview: TuneIn CEO plans radio ad pre-rolls, personalization". paidContent. Archived from the original on 2012-12-27. Retrieved 2012-12-04.
  34. ^ Maloney, Paul (2012-06-28). "TuneIn adds Entercom, Cox, Emmis stations to tuning service". RAIN. Archived from the original on 2012-07-04.
  35. ^ "TuneIn Forms Alliances With Over 20 Broadcasters". Radio Online. 2012. Archived from the original on 2015-05-18. Retrieved 2012-12-04.
  36. ^ Marcucci, Carl (2012-09-19). "TuneIn signs Bonneville". RBR.com. Archived from the original on 2015-03-29. Retrieved 2012-12-04.
  37. ^ a b Venta, Lance (2018-08-09). "TuneIn Announces Addition Of Cumulus Media Stations To Its App". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. Archived from the original on 2018-08-10. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  38. ^ "TuneIn Tune Out For Entercom: Radio.com Gets Exclusive". Radio & Television Business Report. Archived from the original on 2018-07-08. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  39. ^ "TuneIn and iHeartMedia Partner on Strategic Technology and Content Distribution Deal". iheartmedia.azurewebsites.net. Archived from the original on 2021-08-04. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  40. ^ "TuneIn and iHeartMedia Announce Content & Advertising Partnership". RadioInsight. 2021-07-29. Archived from the original on 2021-09-01. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  41. ^ Roettgers, Janko (2022-01-19). "TuneIn's pitch to disillusioned podcasters: Give radio a try". Protocol.
  42. ^ "Audacy Signs on With TuneIn". Radio World. Future Publishing Limited. 2023-06-21.
  43. ^ "Margo Price, Live In Concert Newport Folk 2018". NPR.org. Archived from the original on 2019-04-15. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  44. ^ "Festival Radio Stations Playing On TuneIn". Insideradio.com. Archived from the original on 2022-06-14. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  45. ^ Washenko, Anna (2018-07-05). "TuneIn hires new head of hip-hop/R&B". RAIN News. Archived from the original on 2019-04-15. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  46. ^ Sanchez, Daniel (2018-06-28). "Latest Industry: ¡Viva Latino!, Sony Music, Prince, Sony/ATV, Viagogo, SoundCloud, LANDR, More..." Digital Music News. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  47. ^ "Are you ready for some football? TuneIn Premium adds NFL games to subscription". digitaltrends.com. 2015-10-12. Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  48. ^ "NFL Games, Including The Super Bowl, Come To TuneIn". techcrunch.com. 2015-10-12. Archived from the original on 2018-09-15. Retrieved 2017-06-25.
  49. ^ "TuneIn Partners with National Hockey League® to Bring Content to TuneIn for Free" (Press release). PR Newswire. 2015-12-22. Archived from the original on 2015-12-29. Retrieved 2015-12-22.
  50. ^ "Ducks Set to Launch Audio Streaming Network Today: Ducks Stream". NHL.com. 2022-09-22. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  51. ^ "A's announce new radio partnerships for upcoming season". The Mercury News. 2019-02-15. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  52. ^ "Oakland Athletics off the radio waves in the Bay Area, commit to A's Cast stream". The Mercury News. 2020-02-18. Archived from the original on 2022-06-14. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  53. ^ "A's to add local radio station, 960 AM; change to iHeartRadio streaming service". SFChronicle.com. 2020-07-30. Archived from the original on 2020-08-01. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  54. ^ Volume (2021-08-05). "The NFL Season Is Finally Here. Get Live Access with TuneIn Premium". Medium. Archived from the original on 2022-06-14. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  55. ^ "Baseball Fans Rejoice: TuneIn Signs Multi-Year Partnership with Major League Baseball, Solidifies Place as an Official Audio Partner of MLB". TuneIn. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  56. ^ "English Premier League Now On Tunein". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  57. ^ "TuneIn Launches TuneIn Premium With Ad-Free Radio, Audiobooks, MLB Games". 2015-08-25. Archived from the original on 2022-06-14. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  58. ^ "TuneIn Premium will stop offering audiobooks on January 15". androidcentral.com. 2017-12-22. Archived from the original on 2018-08-12. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
  59. ^ Ink, Radio (2018-10-24). "Maddow's "Bag Man" Coming To TuneIn October 30". Radio Ink. Archived from the original on 2019-04-15. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  60. ^ "Adobe Advertising Cloud Teams With TuneIn To Prove Targeted Audio Ads Via Smart Speakers Is Scalable |". 2018-07-02. Archived from the original on 2019-04-15. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  61. ^ "TuneIn Gets Into Golf Carts In Deal With Greg Norman's 'Shark Experience'". All Access. Archived from the original on 2019-04-15. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  62. ^ Razo, Eduardo (2021-11-05). "TuneIn Announces Partnership With News Corp-Owned News UK". Barrett Media.
  63. ^ "TuneIn brings its subs service to all Alexa-enabled devices". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2022-06-14. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  64. ^ a b "TuneIn Blocks 1,000s of Radio Channels in UK But a VPN Restores Service". TorrentFreak. Archived from the original on 2021-03-29. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  65. ^ "TuneIn Takes Aim at Search-Engine Privilege in Major Labels Case Appeal". Digital Music News. 2021-02-24. Archived from the original on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  66. ^ "TuneIn loses copyright lawsuit filed by Sony and Warner in the UK – report". Music Business Worldwide. 2019-11-01. Archived from the original on 2021-04-12. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  67. ^ "International radio stations now restricted on TuneIn". RadioToday. 2020-09-14. Archived from the original on 2020-09-14. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  68. ^ "TuneIn Infringed Labels' Copyrights, Court of Appeal Rules". TorrentFreak. Archived from the original on 2021-03-29. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  69. ^ "TuneIn starts to remove UK radio stations from its platform". Radio Today. 2022-05-04. Archived from the original on 2022-05-04. Retrieved 2022-05-09.