Slacker radio has announced its sponsorship of the now named, Slacker Canadian Music Week. And while the new name may sound like a festival for freeloading musicians, the station is far from lazing about to get its name out in the Canadian market.

The subscriber-based internet radio service made its debut in Canada early this year, and while Pandora fans were still grieving the loss the of US-based music station, Slacker provided some light to fill the void.

But Jonathon Sasse, senior VP, Slacker radio tells MiC that the station hasn’t been gaining as much speed as they hoped, adding that the Canadian market is still a fairly untapped market for them. In total, Slacker has 30 million registered users in North America, of which only 500,000 are Canadian.

The decision to rally behind one of Canada’s largest music festival, conference and exhibition was an easy one, says Sasse. The music service has a strong history working with festivals in the US and the sponsorship will provide a vehicleto raise the profile of its Canadian presence. Slacker has been seen on sponsor boards for US festivals such as Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits.

In addition to being the title sponsor of the March festival, Slacker radio will also launch a variety of new radio stations that Sasse says will have opportunities for brands to advertise and sponsor around.

One such station to launch will provide a retrospective look at the past three decades of the Canadian Music Week, with content from artists that have come and gone throughout the years. There will also be a number of “Artist Showcase” stations where performing artists will pick and choose their own playlists and talk about their favourite musicians being showcased at the 2012 fest.

Sasse believes that the stations will provide festival-goers with a way to manage their show viewing experience while helping them to discover new music.

“[Music] festivals can sometimes be overwhelming and when you go, there are hundreds of artists performing, many of which you are not familiar with. You have to figure out which ones resonate with you as a listener,” he says. “[But] they are a great place for discovery and that is a key part of our service, which is to provide a discovery experience for people. For us, it’s a great opportunity to be able to create a whole new music experience behind that.”

Slacker radio is available on iPhone, Android and Blackberry platforms and can be downloaded as a free 30-day trial or for a fee of US $4 per month.