Social audio platform Audioboo has announced that former Reality Digital COO, Rob Proctor, is its new CEO, with incumbent and company founder Mark Rock now President.
Launched in March 2009, Audioboo allows users to record a near-unlimited quota of audio snippets, which they can share with friends or broadcast to the world. They can also add images, titles and tags and upload it to Audioboo.fm, complete with biographical and geographical information on where and when it was recorded.
Last year it launched BooMail to let users upload audio by email, in September it rolled out a new freemium subscription model, incorporating a paid-for service for podcasters, and earlier this year it partnered with RadioPlayer to offer UK radio stations ‘listen-again’ functionality.
Proctor was COO at Reality Digital for more than four years, where he lead the team responsible for marketing and community solutions for its clients which included YouTube, NBC Universal and Sony Pictures. At Audioboo, Proctor will work with both users and its content partners such as the BBC build Audioboo’s current profile internationally.
“We have big plans for Audioboo in 2013,” says Proctor. “We’ll be moving into new markets and streamlining our offering, to consolidate Audioboo’s position as the home of the spoken word on the Web.”
As President, Rock will oversee future strategies and development of its external partnerships, including with the BBC.
“Rob is great and Audioboo is great – a perfect combination,” says Rock. “I chose Rob from more than fifteen shortlisted candidates because of his passion for the company’s vision, and its aim to own the social spoken-word space online. He’s got a lot to do, but hopefully with enough groundwork to get him off to a flying start. We’ll make a good team on this new chapter of the Audioboo story.”
Other Audioboo users include The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Sky News Radio, Al Jazeera, The FT, British Library, Royal Opera House and the British Army. And to mark this announcement, Audioboo has also announced it has passed the 1 million ‘Boos’ milestone, a ‘Boo’ being individual audio recordings.
Earlier this year, we interviewed Rock about his ‘chaotic English startup’, and how Stephen Fry became its biggest champion. It’s well worth a watch.
Image Credit – Thinkstock
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