NEWS: Rdio and Polaris Music Prize Partner to Bring Canadians the Polaris Record Club

Albums on the Polaris Music Prize Short List Will Be Showcased Weekly via Rdio

SAN FRANCISCOand TORONTO, August 22, 2011 – Rdio, the unlimited, on-demand social music service from the creators of Skype, and Polaris Music Prize, a not-for-profit organization that honours, celebrates, and rewards creativity and diversity in Canadian recorded music, have partnered to bring Canadian music fans the Polaris Record Club, powered by Rdio.

The Polaris Record Club will showcase the albums that have made the 2011 Polaris Music Prize Short List. A modern version of an old-fashioned record club, it gives Canadian music fans a chance to hear the nominated albums with friends and encourages them to share their thoughts via Twitter (#prc2011).

Starting August 23, Rdio will enable free full album streaming of Short List nominated albums on the Polaris Music Prize website at http://www.polarismusicprize.ca/. Twice a week, leading up to the Polaris Gala event on September 19 in Toronto, listeners in Canada can hear the following albums in their entirety, each for a 24-hour period from 12:01 a.m. EDT to 11:59 p.m. EDT.

Tuesday, August 23 - Braids “Native Speaker”
Thursday, August 25 - Destroyer “Kaputt”
Tuesday, August 30 - Galaxie “Tigre et Diesel”
Thursday, September 1 - Hey Rosetta! “Seeds”
Tuesday, September 6 - Colin Stetson “New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges”
Thursday, September 8 - Timber Timbre “Creep on Creepin’ On”
Tuesday, September 13 - Ron Sexsmith “Long Player Late Bloomer”
Thursday, September 15 - Austra “Feel It Break”


"All of our promotions are about getting music lovers to open themselves to the records on our Short List, and vice versa,” said Steve Jordan, Founder and Executive Director of Polaris. “What better way to do this than by actually making them available. The Rdio team’s enthusiastic support of Polaris Record Club and Polaris clearly prove that Canada and its musicians are a top priority for them.”

“We are excited to be involved with the Polaris Music Prize, which champions music from Canada’s most exciting new artists,” said Carter Adamson, COO of Rdio. “As Polaris and Rdio are so closely linked in their ability to help people discover new music, it seemed a natural fit to work together to bring fans the Polaris Record Club.”

The Polaris Music Prize is a well-respected and recognized honour in Canada. Now in its sixth year, the Polaris Music Prize awards $30,000 for the Best Canadian Album, as voted on by a jury of music journalists, broadcasters, and bloggers from across Canada. The Polaris Music Prize kicked off in June with a Long List of nominees, comprised of the top 40 full-length Canadian records released from June 1, 2010, to May 31, 2011. The Short List was announced in July.

Available in Canada, Rdio is an ad-free, music subscription service that works on the web, iPad and mobile phones, even offline. Users can discover music through friends, recording artists and other influencers as well as instantly play any song, artist, album or playlist from a growing catalogue of over 10 million songs. Music and playlists can also easily be shared viaFacebook and Twitter.

Follow Rdio influencer Polaris Music Prize to hear exclusive playlists showcasing past and present nominees, along with their latest musical discoveries. Visit Rdio to listen to all the Polaris Music Prize nominees at any time.

For a free 7-day trial to Rdio, sign up at Rdio.com or through Rdio’s iPad and mobile apps.

A full list of Polaris Music Prize nominees is available on thePolaris Music Prize web site.