Clear Channel Radio has officially announced the purchase of Thumbplay's cloud music service. The acquisition does not include Thumbplay’s ringtone business which was sold toe SendMe Mobile in late March. Terms of either sale were not disclosed. In a move clearly aimed at Pandora and Songza, Clear Channel will use Thumbplay's platform to add services that enable listeners to create their own personalized radio stations.
The radio giant also hopes to leverage Thumbplay’s music technology and staff to accelerate development of Clear Channel’s popular iHeartRadio. The combined platform will power the digital end of Clear Channel’s 750 radio stations and digital-only commercial-free stations, as well as add new features.
Thumbplay will also give Clear Channel the ability add a variety of subscription services as it races to deliver its content to broadcast, digital, automotive and mobile devices.
