June 21, 2011Bolstered by a $10,000 loan from his parents and driven by a passion for music, Jake Sigal founded Livio Radio in 2008 in the guest bedroom of his home in Michigan. Prior to launching Livio, Sigal paid the bills by working as a professional DJ and a product developer for Numark, where he invented the original ION USB turntable, designed to convert sound from vinyl records to CD or MP3 format. He was also listed as the co-inventor of the iDJ, an iPod-based mixing console. Sigal?s career path eventually led to Metro Detroit, where he worked as a product line manager for Delphi?s Consumer Electronics group and was responsible for producing XM-brand satellite radio products.The focus of Livio is to provide products that are easy enough that grandkids to grandparents can use and enjoy. Livio makes consumer electronics, mobile apps, and in car technology to access music from all over the world. It works by connecting to the Internet to listen to AM, FM and Internet only stations that are also broadcast over the internet. Sigal says satellite radio was a big factor behind launching Livio. "XM and Sirius combined their dance channels into BPM which is absolutely horrible. As a huge fan of the old "Area 62" on Sirius, which just played hour long DJ sets from 2002-2005, it started getting cheesy with mainstream dance remixes. Eventually it was just a mix of random electronic genres which was trying to serve everyone which didn't please anybody.Sigal says another reason he started the company is because he loves radio. "Music is the one common denominator that everyone can relate to. It is a true form of expression. I've been in music my entire life and it's what I live for. In fact I'm rocking out now to my favorite electro ice internet radio channel from Europe while answering these questions." Sigal says the Livio Car Internet Radio application allows consumers to quickly access over 45,000 stations by keyword, genre or location. "We have large preset buttons you can easily press while your phone is mounted in the car with a large screen to show the artist and title information. I wanted a clean way in the car to access my favorite 10 channels, which most are electro house. However I also love listening to NPR shows and WEEI New England sports talk. There were apps that could do this but I wanted more. That?s when our team decided to pursue the application and we received a top 20 award at CES just from the demo in 2010! Sigal says company sales are doubling every year. "People love our aftermarket products with DICE to let factory stereos convert XM and Sirius radios to Internet radios (all without monthly fees). Livio now has more than 20 products available in the market. Check out the Livio products HEREAdd a Comment Send This Story To A Friend
