iHeartRadio, Clear Channel's digital radio service, has today announced that it has topped 40 million registered users and 260 million downloads since relaunching in September 2011. Though the milestone is significant, it's worth noting that these are registrations and not monthly or daily active users.
According to the company, this growth rate is second only to Instagram among top digital services like Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, etc. However, iHeartRadio registrations include web sign-ups as well as mobile signups, which Instagram didn't have as an option when nearing the 40 million mark.
Yet, Clear Channel's head of digital Brian Lekamp reminds us that these registrations do not include “millions of users” who listen to live streaming radio stations which are available without registration. Only Custom stations, created by an individual user, require registration.
A huge part of iHeartRadio's growth comes down to reach. The service is available across a plethora of platforms, including iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, web, tablets, automotive, smart TVs and various gaming consoles.
This accounts for more than 260 million downloads since 2011, nearly doubling the number of downloads since July.
Another factor in iHeartRadio's growth is the company's ability, no doubt backed by behemoth Clear Channel, to adapt to consumer behavior. When users were flocking to auto-curated playlist generators like Pandora, 8tracks and Songza, iHeart created it's own Concierge-like feature that delivers playlists based on mood or activity.
More recently, iHeart tackled the talk radio sector with the launch of iHeartRadio Talk. The Talk radio product features channels for big media brands like CNN, TMZ, the Huffington Post and many more and has just recently come out of beta, though anyone can build their own brand by creating audiosodes and posting them to iHeartRadio Talk.
Of course, LeKamp reiterates that the music part of the product is still at the core of iHeart, though the company is certainly pleased with the results they're seeing out of Talk.
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