MixRadio Streaming App Launches on iOS and Android

The streaming service MixRadio, which provides personalized and curated playlists and mixes, announced today (May 19) that it will now be available for users of Android and iOS.

The streaming service, once owned by Microsoft -- and before that, Nokia -- has previously only been available on Windows Phones.

“We are unleashing MixRadio on the Android and iOS platforms,” said CEO Jyrki Rosenberg at a media event. “We’re taking a product we worked on for years that covered five percent of smartphone users, and cover almost 100 percent, in 30 or so countries." MixRadio says the app will still come pre-loaded on Windows Phones.

The free, ad-supported app touts itself as a quick, easy alternative to apps like Spotify, and emphasizes its in-house algorithm, which automatically creates playlists for listeners based on their interactions with the app, and its claimed 10,000 already-existing mixes, created by celebrities, musicologists and regular users. "I’ll summarize it in two words: ‘personalization’ and ‘simplicity,’” Rosenberg said later, when asked what sets MixRadio apart from other services. “I think we have the most personalized music service,” he added.

The service announced the upgrade today in an event that included star producer Nile Rodgers, pop singer Charlie XCX and house producers the Martinez Brothers.

It wasn’t the United Nations-style star-jammed affair of Jay Z’s Tidal launch, but the app aimed to position itself as a music discovery system and conversation starter. The musicians in front of the room talked about their favorite music — XCX revealed a love for your mom’s favorite band in college, Bread; the Martinez Brothers dig Jamiroquai. The highlight of the presser was Rodgers’ admission that he once tried to smoke an entire block of hash while listening to Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew.

Late last year, MixRadio was purchased from Microsoft by Line, a Japanese messaging app that as of last year reached a staggering 170 million users. Whether messaging will be a part of MixRadio in the future hasn’t been announced, though it’s hard to imagine the Line-owned service won’t incorporate it at some point.

The streaming service also announced a new partnership with cellphone maker HTC at the event. Rosenberg said MixRadio will power the music on BlinkFeed, HTC’s homepage feed of social media posts and sports.