Rdio Partners With Live Nation

Music streamer Rdio has signed on as an official sponsor on LiveNation.com and will serve as the streaming music sponsor at Live Nation's 2013 country music festivals. Under the deal, Rdio will also power the Ultimate Charts on LiveNation.com. The original Ultimate Chart, which combined sales, airplay, streaming and social activity was part of Live Nation's acquisition of Big Champagne in December of 2011.

The festival partnership kicked off last weekend with Faster Horses and will continue with Watershed later this summer.

"The live music audience is a natural fit for streaming music," says Drew Larner, CEO of Rdio. "We're excited to work with the best in live entertainment as it gives us a chance to engage music fans before, during and after the show."

Expect Rdio and its competitors to increasingly form similar alliances as iTunes, Beats and others launch streaming music services.