Rdio increases catalogue to over 18 million songs; adds new partners

Rdio (www.rdio.com), the digital subscription music service started by the creators of Skype,  just announced two landmark deals with CD Baby and TuneCore, the largest aggregators of independent music, bringing Rdio’s catalogue to over 18 million songs.

CD Baby’s addition to Rdio supports the local Canadian music scene, with more than 18,000 Canadian artists across Canada’s ten provinces and three territories being added to Rdio’s groundbreaking and diverse music collection.

"We are excited to partner with TuneCore and CD Baby, two of the best distribution tools out there for independent artists," said Drew Larner, CEO of Rdio. "Independent music is a vital part of Rdio’s catalogue. We're glad to support hundreds of thousands of self-released artists by connecting their work to new music fans from all over the world.”

CD Baby and TuneCore join a range of independent artist aggregators in working with Rdio including ONErpm, BFM Digital, Zimbalam, AWAL and Ditto, making it easier than ever for artists to get their music onto the service.

“This alliance is a wonderful fit given the two companies’ focus on connecting musicians with fans and encouraging the exploration of the next great artistic expression,” said Julian Groeger, Vice President, Marketing at TuneCore. “Rdio, with its strong focus on the social elements of music sharing and discovery, accessible via the web, mobile devices and even offline, is yet another exciting venue for our artists to reach new fans and promote their music globally.”

"I am thrilled to see CD Baby team up with Rdio to make our artists’ music accessible to their dedicated and growing subscriber-base,” said Brian Felsen, president of CD Baby. “Their commitment to offering a cutting-edge service that skillfully blends social media and recommendation with an ad-free, subscription-based model and elegant interface has been refreshing to see. Our artists have consistently asked for Rdio to be added to our partner network, and we're confident this partnership will generate a great combination of exposure and revenue to support our independent musicians."

With Rdio, fans are constantly discovering new music through friends, people with similar musical tastes and even the artists themselves. Artists can share what they are listening to in real-time, bringing a deeper level of engagement to fans and tapping into Rdio’s socially powered discovery features to promote themselves, their music and the music they love.