A crowd of media buyers and advertisers gathered at the X Studio in Kings Cross last night to hear about the new offerings of radio streaming service iHeartRadio, as well as listening to Grammy nominated artist Hozier.

Welcomed by Simon Joyce, CEO of newly formed content marketing agency Emotive, Joyce outlined the new initiatives and how brands can get involved.

One of the new ways of trying to engage audiences is the launch of the iHeartRadio countdown. It’ll be 20 songs each Sunday, broadcast through the Australian Radio Network’s (ARN) station KIIS1065.

Joyce explained: “There is actually a fundamental difference to what’s out there, and that is Matty Acton will host it, alongside a superstar talent in the US. It will be available on demand via iHeartRadio, and will syndicated on KIIS.” Acton is a radio presenter on KIIS.

There are also two new channels for music fanatics out there; Dance and Country.

“We’re going to put a new spin on the genre that is ‘dance’,” said Joyce, “we’ll work with some of those renowned, established and up and coming DJs and producers. This will be a weekly program.”

Alongside the new boppy dance channel will be the mellow and instrument-laden country music.

Country music isn’t really well catered for in commercial radio, said Joyce “but it’s massive genre in its own right”.

The live events offering, iHeartRadio Live, is another way for brands to connect, with telco Optus sponsoring the event last night.

“This signifies the start of us having an ongoing presence in what will be the dominant events program in Australia,” claimed Joyce.

The aim of these new initiatives, he explained, is to drive conversation around iHeartRadio, with brands able to partner with new content.

The Australian version of iHeartRadio launched in September 2013, off the back of the success seen in the US.

If you’re unsure what iHeartRadio is, Joyce likened it to Foxtel, “but free and it’s audio and there’s no cord”.