Songza launches Canadian subsidiary, boasts over 2.4 million monthly users

Songza’s Canadian expansions have been going better than we could have predicted, even though we use the service every day. The company is launching a Canadian subsidiary, Songza Canada Inc., with the mandate of bringing more relevant native ads to listeners across the country.

The company is boasting a tally of 2.4 million monthly users, up from over 1 million a year ago. Songza has been making headway into the crowded Canadian market by offering unlimited, free ad-based music playback via curated playlists that are quickly tuned to users’ mood and activities.

Songza Canada will be located in Toronto, and has selected Vanessa Thomas, former Nielsen Music exec, as Managing Director. The sales team will be run by Philip Schlatter, formerly of Kijiji and TELUS.

Songza has been killing it with its native advertising approach, claiming that users actually want to participate in the branded experiences. For example, the startup has partnered with food companies to offer playlists that offer the best tracks to listen to while walking to the restaurant. Combined with the odd audio or video ad, Songza has been growing quickly and generating revenue without forcing subscriptions down its users’ throats. While there is Club Songza, a $3.99 subscription that removes all ads from the service, the commercials don’t feel intrusive.

Canadian brands like TELUS, Febreze, Nissan and Mr. Clean are already using Songza’s “Branded Moments” advertising, and a few Canadian artists like Michael Buble and Justin Bieber have collaborated with the company to make branded playlists.

Songza claims that over 2.5 billion songs have been played within Canada so far, and it doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. The company just launched a native Windows Phone app and revamped its iOS offering, with an Android overhaul promised for the coming months.