AOL Partners With Slacker For Online Music Service

Add another competitor to the online music wars, as AOL shifts much of its offering from CBS to Slacker. The new AOL Radio, which relaunches in late summer, will offer new personalization features and premium subscriptions. Based on existing Slacker pricing, the new service will deliver three tiers: free AOL Radio with personalization and customization by Slacker, ad-free and feature-rich Slacker Radio Plus for $3.99 per month and on-demand access with Slacker Premium Radio for $9.99.

Upon the launch of the new AOL Radio player, Slacker will lead advertising sales within the player. AOL will package a portion of the inventory for premium AOL Music integrated sponsorships.

The AOL Radio iPhone App, which has been downloaded more than 3 million times, will also re-launch in late summer and be joined by Android and other platform apps. The new player will also continue to host AOL’s 250 programmed music stations, as well as additional new Slacker programming including stations and content from ESPN Radio and ABC News Radio, which will include additional offerings and stations for subscribers.