A for-profit subsidiary of noncommercial radio station WFMU in Jersey City, N.J., will merge with Boston-based company Spinitron LLC under a deal announced Wednesday.
Congera Public Benefit Corp., the WFMU subsidiary, is the company behind Audience Engine, a set of free, open-source digital tools intended to help stations and other nonprofits increase audience engagement and fundraising income.
Spinitron helps radio stations create schedules, provides them with real-time music playlist software for web and mobile platforms, and offers chat tools for audiences to engage with one another and with DJs during programs. The company also helps its 150-plus clients with SoundExchange and other copyright-compliance reporting.
“Spinitron’s music tracking software is an amazing service for music programs, music fanatics and record labels,” said Ken Freedman, Audience Engine president and WFMU station manager, in a statement. “Add what they’ve accomplished to our work on audience engagement and modernized online fundraising, and you create a powerful combination.”
Spinitron co-founders Eva Papp and Tom Worster will join the Audience Engine team, and Spinitron clients will gain access to Audience Engine’s tools.
Audience Engine released its first module, Mynte, at a launch party in November. Mynte provides secure logins and user profiles for websites and contains pledge-drive software that allows users to monitor pledges for specific programs.
Spinitron is currently developing software to support traffic services such as underwriting, public service and promotional announcements. Audience Engine’s next goal is to offer its software to podcasters, independent and nonprofit journalists and other content creators as well as radio stations.
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Congrats to Tom & Eva! They make a really awesome product…Audience Engine is getting something really special in this deal!