Slacker Radio is attempting to differentiate itself from the streaming music competition by incorporating nonmusic audio clips called Sound Bytes into its radio service.
Sound Bytes can range from interviews with musicians to current news updates to artist introductions to songs (or stories about songs) to Slacker radio hosts chatting about genre-specific hot topics. They’re not, in actuality, previews of music tracks.
The new feature interjects a variety of additional information into a user’s listening session, similar to old-school radio stations. The flow between different types of content provides a more dynamic experience than simply streaming music, or so the thinking goes.
Slacker plans to tailor Sound Bytes to each listener’s tastes and will program them intermittently. If you’re only in it for the tunes, Slacker Radio users also have the option to opt out of the feature.