The CBC is diving into the world of online music with the goal of providing listeners access to their favourite tunes, and a way to discover new artists and connect with fellow music fans.

The free digital service CBC Music, which launches on Monday, offers access to 40 web radio stations, a vast array of music and blog posts by CBC personalities through a website and via mobile apps.

The new initiative allows the public broadcaster “to connect with listeners in something we’ve done well — music — but in new ways,” said Chris Boyce, executive director of radio and audio for CBC English Services.

“Not only are we providing music, we’re helping people find the music and understand the music… there’s a ton of rich content that helps people understand the music as well as listen to it.”

The CBC launch comes after private radio network Astral’s recent unveiling of its own on-demand digital music service, which continues its roll out through the spring.

A segment of Canadians already listen to regular local radio stations via the web. However, at present, “it’s actually a very small number [using] any kind of online music streaming service or internet radio service in Canada,” according to Jeff Vidler, senior vice-president of research firm Vision Critical Communications.

“It’s really underdeveloped in Canada, relative to other territories. If you look at the U.S. or Britain, it’s much higher in terms of use of internet radio services or online music-streaming services,” he told CBC News.

Read the article at CBC News

CBC Music – music.cbc.ca