iHeartRadio

iHeartRadio

Type	Internet radio Radio network Music recommender system OnDemand Streaming Platform
Country	United States Australia New Zealand Canada Mexico (on USA site and app)
Headquarters	32 Avenue of the Americas New York, New York 10013 [1]
Owner	iHeartMedia, Inc.
Key people	Bob Pittman (Chairman/CEO, iHeartMedia, Inc.)
Launch date	April 2008 (2008-04)
Former names	iheartmusic.com
Affiliation	Beasley Broadcast Group Bell Media Cox Radio Cumulus Media Emmis Communications Federated Media Greater Media Radio Disney Salem Communications Turner Broadcasting Univision Radio Grupo Radio Centro Grupo ACIR Grupo Radio México Tribune Media Australian Radio Network New Zealand Media and Entertainment
Official website	iheartradio.com iheartradio.com.au iheartradio.net.nz iheartradio.ca

iHeartRadio is a proprietary, encrypted Internet radio platform incompatible with free software media clients. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.^[2] Founded in April 2008 as the website iheartmusic.com, as of 2015 iHeartRadio functions both as a music recommender system and as a radio network that aggregates audio content from over 800 local iHeartMedia radio stations across the United States, as well as from hundreds of other stations and from various other media. iHeartRadio is available online, via mobile devices, and on select video-game consoles.^[3][4][5]

iHeartRadio was ranked No. 4 on AdAge's Entertainment A-List in 2010.^[6] Since 2011, they hold the iHeartRadio Music Festival.^[7] In 2014, iHeartRadio started an awards show titled iHeartRadio Music Awards and regularly produces concerts in Los Angeles and New York though the iHeartRadio Theater locations.

History

Prior to 2008, Clear Channel Communications' various audio products were decentralized. Individual stations streamed from their own sites, and the Format Lab website provided feeds of between 40 and 80 networks that were used primarily on Clear Channel's HD Radio subchannels. In April 2008, the iHeartRadio brand launched as the iHeartMusic website, featuring entertainment news, national news, music content including albums, singles on demand, music videos, and access to over 750 Clear Channel radio stations online.

On October 7, 2008, Clear Channel Radio launched the first version of the free streaming radio application known as iHeartRadio to the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch through the App Store; 12 stations in 8 markets were included in this first release.^[8][9] In 2009, iHeartRadio was made available to BlackBerry devices and the Android operating system.^[10][11][12] Soon iHeartRadio offered video: artist interviews, live performance vignettes, etc.^[13]

The iHeartRadio app was then expanded to other platforms. In 2010, iHeartRadio expanded to Sonos.^[14] In 2011, iHeartRadio expanded to the Xbox 360^[15] and webOS.^[16] On April 20, 2012, iHeartRadio launched on the iPad.^[17] On June 8, 2012, iHeartRadio concluded a deal to power Yahoo! Music's Radio service, previously powered by CBS Radio.

In mid-October 2012, iHeartRadio launched online audio news, weather and traffic streams for Tampa, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, San Diego, New York City, and 15 other metropolitan cities, branded as "24/7 News".^[18] Their looping programming is similar to that of NOAA Weather Radio's. On March 1, 2013, iHeartRadio was added to the Roku digital media receiver.^[19]

On July 2013, iHeartRadio began adding stations from outside the United States like CHUM-FM and CFBT-FM in Canada and Virgin Radio Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.^[20] On July 14, 2013, iHeartRadio launched in New Zealand and Australia.^[21] On July 24, 2013, iHeartRadio launched a new talk radio feature: iHeartRadio Talk. It features original programming from celebrities like Ryan Seacrest and allows users to upload their own content through Spreaker.^[22]

On May 1, 2014, iHeartRadio hosted the 1st iHeartRadio Music Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.^[23] In September 2014, owing to the prominence of the service, Clear Channel changed its name to iHeartMedia.^[24] On October 12, 2015, iHeartRadio introduced "My Favorites Radio", a personalized radio station based on a user's favorite artists, liked songs, and genres.^[25]

On November 10, 2015, iHeartRadio launched a standalone app designed for families with kids ages 4–11 named iHeartRadio Family. Launched in partnership with Build-A-Bear Workshop, iHeartRadio Family offers access to dozens of iHeartRadio Original and Live Radio stations in one easy-to-use app and marks iHeartRadio’s first multi-app brand extension.^[26]

On January 6, 2016, iHeartMedia announced that the iHeartRadio service would expand into Canada as part of a licensing deal with Bell Media—which, similarly to iHeartMedia, is the country's largest radio station operator. The company described the Canadian version of the service as being a "franchised" operation; Bell will handle Canadian music licensing, marketing, and distribution of the service, and provide content from its properties. Bell also gained rights to organize iHeartRadio-branded events in Canada; the first prominent instance came with the co-branding of an annual awards show organized through Bell's cable channel Much as the 2016 iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards. The Canadian serivce became available in early October 2016 with FM/AM Stations provided by Bell Media and Digital only stations provided by iHeartMedia. No Custom Stations nor Podcasts are currently available on The Canadian service.^{[24][27][28][29]}

During The 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival, iHeartMedia announced subscription based services "iHeartRadio Plus" and "iHeartRadio all Access".^[30] iHeartRadio Plus allows paying subscribers to access commerical-free stations, replay songs heard over radio stations, search and play any song out of The iHeartRadio Library as well as offline stations. iHeartRadio all Access allows in addtion to the features of Plus, Playlist creations, unlimited capped free ondemand streaming of songs from the iHeartRadio Library including offline listening of songs. All Access is powered by Napster. On December 1, iHeartMedia made available the services in beta on iOS and Andriod to the american users, with Plus and All Access due to be expanded to other platforms including desktop in early 2017 in the United States. iHeartRadio Austraila and New Zealand has announced that it will be available in those countries. iHeartRadio Canada is in the "early stages of looking at the plus platform."^[31]

Availability and supported devices

iHeartRadio is available to anyone in the United States, Canada, Australia or New Zealand.^[32] It is also currently available on dozens of platforms, including mobile, web, home entertainment, and auto. The following is a list of all platforms that currently support iHeartRadio:^[33]

Mobile

• Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch (iOS 8.0 and above)^[34]
• Mac App Store Application (Requires OS X 10.10 or above)^[35]
• Google Play (Requires Android 4.0 or above)^[36]
• Kindle Fire (Requires Android 4.0 or above)^[36]
• Windows Phone
• Blackberry 10
• Amazon Fire Phone (Requires Android 4.0 or above)^[36]
• Windows 10 Mobile

Web

• Apple Safari
• Firefox
• Google Chrome
• Opera
• Windows Internet Explorer

Home

• Apple TV
• Bose
• Chromecast
• Echo
• Fire TV
• HEOS by Denon
• LG
• Mood Media
• Nexus Player
• NuVo
• PlayStation
• Roku
• Samsung Smart Services
• Sonos
• TiVo
• U-verse
• Vizio
• Xbox

Automotive

• Apple CarPlay
• iPhone Auto app
• Android Auto app
• BMW
• Chrysler
• Ford
• Honda
• Lexus
• Lincoln
• Mini
• Nissan
• Subaru
• Toyota
• Clarion
• JVC
• Kenwood
• Pioneer

Wearables

• Apple Watch
• Android Wear
• Pebble
• Samsung Gear 2

Functionality and rating system

On customized stations, songs are chosen based on a song or artist a user chooses. Users also have the option to listen to iHeartRadio's original stations that work exactly like customized ones. Once a station is created, users can set the discovery tuner to Familiar, Less Familiar, or Mixed.^[37] Listeners can also hear live radio stations.

The iHeartRadio player has a Like/Dislike (Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down) rating tool used on songs playing on live and customized radio stations. "Liking" or "disliking" songs for all live stations will simply provide feedback to the particular station being played. "Liking" a song on customized stations will have it and songs like it played more often. "Disliking" a song on customized stations means that song will not be played again.^[38]

Limitations

• Custom stations are limited to one seed
• Daily skips are limited to fifteen combined per day and six per hour per station^[39]
• Artists on custom stations cannot be banned from being played again
• New songs on live stations cannot be rated until they are added to the database
• Cannot rewind or fast-forward
• Cannot record
• Only iHeartMedia-owned radio stations can be cast or streamed via Google Chromecast or Xbox app (i.e. you cannot cast a Cumulus Media-owned radio station using Google Chromecast or Xbox app). This also applies for personalized music or specialty stations. Radio stations that are owned by other media companies are only available on iHeartRadio.com or the iHeartRadio mobile app.

See also

• iHeartRadio Music Festival
• iHeartRadio Countdown
• TuneIn
• AccuRadio

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to IHeartRadio.

• iHeartRadio
• iHeartRadio (Australia)
• iHeartRadio (New Zealand)
• iheartRadio (Canada)