As predicted, US music startup Turntable.fm has secured licensing deals with all four major labels. The company announced the news during a session at SXSW Interactive yesterday. “This feels like an all-time record speed launch,” co-founder Seth Goldstein tells Billboard. “Our model is unique – we’re not a radio service, not an on-demand service. We have interesting aspects that really require some out-of-the-box thinking. We felt that from the get-go the labels were absolutely different from what I’d been led to believe. They gave us a lot of time and attention.” Judging by comments from labels, they see Turntable.fm as more about discovery than full consumption of music. “We see it as a sort of funnel to attract more lean-back customers into the digital space and figure out how to monetize them over time,” says WMG’s Stephen Bryan.
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