ReadWriteWeb

Slacker Radio is looking for ways to add revenue to their mobile streams and is teaming with mobile video advertising company YuMe to optimize monetization of its mobile division. Slacker has between 25 and 30 million subscribers, most of whom come to the service from pre-loaded devices on most of the major U.S. carriers. As such, adding a stout mobile advertising model could mark Slacker as the next major force in the competitive music streaming market.

Slacker is in growth mode. With those 30 million members come almost 400,000 paid premium subscriptions. The company is able to convert about 10% of new mobile free subscribers to paid members, a robust number. Yet, it is important for Slacker to optimize its streaming product as 75% to 85% of listening on the service comes from the free streaming product and not the paid on-demand option. That is where YuMe comes in. With Spotify on the rise and Pandora the dominant service in the sector, Slacker has to make as many moves as it can to gain an edge.

Slacker Radio, an Internet radio service similar to streaming music giant Pandora, has just introduced a new tier to its subscription service: a $9.99 per month Premium version which offers music on-demand. Previously, as the name implies, Slacker Radio was more focused on a radio-like experience, where you listen to a station built around your favorite artist, just like in Pandora. For example, type in "Lady Gaga" and you'll be presented with her hottest tracks, as well as those from "related" artists.

To ditch the advertisements and skip songs you don't like, a $3.99/month subscription (Slacker Radio Plus) was made available. And today, Slacker has launched another option: a $9.99/month Premium Radio subscription for playing the songs, albums or artists you want to hear on demand. This is similar to a number of other services out there today, including two of our favorites, MOG and Rdio.

Which one is right for you?

Later tonight, at an event in New York, online music service Slacker Radio plans to unveil a major upgrade to its service that will turn it from an Internet radio service into an on-demand music platform similar to Rhapsody, MOG and Rdio. Right now, Slacker only allows users to set specific songs and band as the basis for their custom radio stations (similar to Pandora), but users don't have control over the actual songs that will play in these stations. Now, for $9.99 per month, Slacker users will be able to subscribe to Slacker Premium Radio and pick the exact songs and albums they want to hear.

According to The Leading Question's recent research report, as many as 65% of UK teens are streaming music on a monthly basis. Meanwhile, file-sharing has decreased significantly since the Digital Britain Report consultation to address illicit P2P file sharing. While music sharing sites have come and gone due to funding, legal issues and lack of users, here are some of the streaming sites that continue to thrive.

We have seen our fair share of doom and gloom this year, but, according to a report from Bloomberg.com, at least Pandora, the free online music discovery service, expects to be profitable next year. Pandora was founded in in 2000, and derives its revenue from targeted audio advertising in its music streams and affiliate sales through Amazon's MP3 store and iTunes. In the interview with Bloomberg, Pandora's founder Tim Westergreen also disclosed that the service is currently adding about 50,000 new users a day, and that the service's successful iPhone app is responsible for bringing in about 20,000 of these new users.

Imeem, the popular but financially troubled streaming media and music discovery service, launched its iPhone and Android application today. The new app (iTunes link) allows users to stream songs they have uploaded to Imeem's servers while on the go, something that only very few of imeem's competitors can offer right now. The app, which is available for free, also allows users to create custom radio stations and it features a small set of preset stations, including a list of the top 100 songs on the service.

For us, the iPhone has already replaced our radio while driving. Thanks to a steady stream of podcasts and the Last.fm and Pandora applications, annoying DJs and endless commercials have become a thing of the past. Now, another streaming music app, Slacker Radio, which was already available for the Blackberry, has arrived in the App Store (iTunes link), and we think it is a worthy competitor to the popular Last.fm and Pandora apps.