Guvera Claims 10 Million Users Worldwide
Music streaming service Guvera has announced it has reached 10 million users worldwide. In a statement, the company said its user base has skyrocketed from 1.5 million users in October thanks to a…
Australia-based music streaming service Guvera has announced it has reached 10 million users worldwide. In a statement, the company said its user base has skyrocketed from 1.5 million users in October thanks to a steady flow of over 35,000 new users a day over the past 22 weeks.
The company, which operates in 20 markets, said three million of those total users are in India, where it only launched last November. Part of that rapid growth worldwide was thanks to the 2.5 million users it gained following Guvera’s acquisition of the UK’s Blinkbox Music platform in January.
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“As a young brand, we welcome the 10 millionth user to the Guvera platform with a real sense of pride and delight,” said Guvera CEO Darren Herft. “We’re thrilled to see Guvera’s global community growing daily and we hope to bring more music lovers on board as we enter new markets in 2015. We believe our growth is also testament to the success of our unique non-disruptive ad-funded model, which allows our users to discover and play the best expert curated music.”
Guvera launched in 2010 as a no-frills MP3 download site, but later evolved into a playlist-driven streaming service offering both free, ad-supported streaming and, for its paying customers, ad-free listening. It has licensing agreements with UMG, EMI, Orchard and INgrooves, among others. In the past year, Guvera has launched in India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. It has been available in the U.S. for five years.
The company did not disclose which percentage of the 10 global million users are paying subscribers.
Guvera recently introduced specially branded channels to its platform, which it says provides brands a “less disruptive” way to reach specific audiences. “Branded channels are a great example of how users are able to engage with brands in a less disruptive manner,” Herft said. “Guvera is putting the consumer in charge of the advertising experience. Moreover, advertisers know that they are paying for ads that consumers want.”
Guvera’s main financial backer happens to be Herft’s private-equity group AMMA, which he co-founded in 2008. The firm’s other investments include sports news site Sportkix and apps including The Giant Machine and Dog Bone.
At this year’s SXSW, Guvera unveiled a new app of its own called Fradio, which lets users broadcast a radio-type show to friends and family using Guvera’s music library.
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