AT&T Tech Support 360
January 19, 2006 4:00 AM PST
Digital music spins new sales approach
- Related Stories
-
Yahoo takes on iTunes with new music service
May 10, 2005 -
Got playlist anxiety? You're not alone
April 6, 2005 -
Red Sox fan? It's time for a postgame playlist
October 21, 2004
Burke, a South Carolina software tester, operates a popular series of Web sites called Scopecreep.com, where he's posted thousands of digital music playlists, from "Best songs of 1989" to "Palindrome songs," that can be played by any Yahoo or RealNetworks Rhapsody music service subscriber.
On one level, this is little different than the age-old practice of making mixed music cassette tapes for a friend. But as online music retailers look for ways to guide listeners through catalogs of millions of songs, this latter-day mix-making is drawing renewed attention, particularly from subscription services that see people like Burke as key allies in their fight against Apple Computer's popular iTunes.
Last week, Yahoo announced it had hired the creator of Webjay, a site for posting playlists. Yahoo is getting in on what could be a major part of the online music business: A recent joint study from Harvard University and the Gartner Group predicted that by 2010, 25 percent of online music sales will be sparked by consumers recommending songs to one another.
"We fit in between traditional media and word of mouth media," Burke said, explaining the appeal of sites like his. "We're that in-between world that's the best of both worlds."
To date, the playlist-swapping boomlet represented by Burke, the newly Yahoo-owned Webjay and others has been more of a grassroots phenomenon than an effective weapon in the digital music wars. But ambitious subscription music services see music-sharing tools playing an important role in their futures.
A key feature of subscription services is that they give their users the ability to listen to unlimited amounts of music. As long as two people trading song recommendations have both paid the service's subscription fee, they can legally listen to thousands of songs, or swap dozens of playlists without any additional fee.
"The people who get this are those who are more engaged," said Evan Krasts, director of product management for RealNetworks' Rhapsody service. "If you've got someone who understands what this is about, you're going to get someone who's going to be a good customer."
iTunes itself is also a haven for playlist makers. Indeed, its iMix section, with more than 330,000 playlists contributed by individuals, is one of the biggest repositories of music recommendations online.
But at 99 cents per song, a 10-song iTunes playlist costs $10 to download, which limits the amount of songs that people can actually listen to, subscription service executives say.
Still, that argument hasn't exactly triggered a mass rush to subscription services. Carried on the back of the phenomenal success of the iPod, Apple's iTunes remains far and away the most dominant force in the digital music business. Apple executives have said that consumers want to own their music, rather than "rent" it through subscription services.
See more CNET content tagged:
subscription service,
digital music,
playlist,
online music,
song
Subscriptions will never work out.
Subscriptions will never work out.
worlds. No subscription fees: people "own" their music, yet can
listen to complete songs 3 times before deciding to buy. And when
they buy, the recommender gets a commission for helping to
spread the music. In fact, if you want to start your own on-line
music store, just buy some Weed files and post them to your web
page, blog, MySpace, whatever. Also, weedshare has the pricing
flexibility that iTunes doesn't.
worlds. No subscription fees: people "own" their music, yet can
listen to complete songs 3 times before deciding to buy. And when
they buy, the recommender gets a commission for helping to
spread the music. In fact, if you want to start your own on-line
music store, just buy some Weed files and post them to your web
page, blog, MySpace, whatever. Also, weedshare has the pricing
flexibility that iTunes doesn't.
I don't trust the music publishers to keep a tune available in the "celestial jukebox" for my entire lifetime. I expect that some years down the road either these services or the music publishers will start to pull tunes with low listening statistics. The reality is that even though storage is cheap and slowly getting cheaper, there will likely still be a tipping point for the cost of maintaining the "celestial jukebox."
I will continue to buy my music, thank you, and in a format that preserves my right of first sale.
I don't trust the music publishers to keep a tune available in the "celestial jukebox" for my entire lifetime. I expect that some years down the road either these services or the music publishers will start to pull tunes with low listening statistics. The reality is that even though storage is cheap and slowly getting cheaper, there will likely still be a tipping point for the cost of maintaining the "celestial jukebox."
I will continue to buy my music, thank you, and in a format that preserves my right of first sale.
I don't for the life of me, understand why the two models are pitted against each other like they are mutually exclusive?
How do you discover the music you want to purchase?
Radio? lame
MTV - lamer
blogs - better, but incomplete
Why not take all the latest releases for a test spin and see if they are worth buying.
We are talking about less than $10 a month here people. Less than one CD a month. If you subscribe to a music magazine, cancel now and get a Yahoo or Rhapsody subscription. You'll thank me.
I don't for the life of me, understand why the two models are pitted against each other like they are mutually exclusive?
How do you discover the music you want to purchase?
Radio? lame
MTV - lamer
blogs - better, but incomplete
Why not take all the latest releases for a test spin and see if they are worth buying.
We are talking about less than $10 a month here people. Less than one CD a month. If you subscribe to a music magazine, cancel now and get a Yahoo or Rhapsody subscription. You'll thank me.
You folks with subscription services and playlists need to target another area. See who Muzak targets, and go there. Do you feel that little spark of opportunity? Right. Now go forth and pump your subscription music into every elevator, every dentist office and shopping mall across America.
Do you get it now? Good. Just send me my 20%.
You folks with subscription services and playlists need to target another area. See who Muzak targets, and go there. Do you feel that little spark of opportunity? Right. Now go forth and pump your subscription music into every elevator, every dentist office and shopping mall across America.
Do you get it now? Good. Just send me my 20%.
Those offering subscription services and playlists need to go after another area. See who Muzak targets and go there. Feel that spark of opportunity? Right. Now go forth and fill every elevator, dentist office and shopping mall with your subscription music service.
Now do you get it? Good. Just send me my 20%.
(originally posted earlier, but was removed, hmmm.)
Those offering subscription services and playlists need to go after another area. See who Muzak targets and go there. Feel that spark of opportunity? Right. Now go forth and fill every elevator, dentist office and shopping mall with your subscription music service.
Now do you get it? Good. Just send me my 20%.
(originally posted earlier, but was removed, hmmm.)
Subs continue to grow and there is room for everyone. Show me a iTuner and a subscription customer and I'll show you the person more knowledgable about music. And he won't be the one with an iPod.
Subs continue to grow and there is room for everyone. Show me a iTuner and a subscription customer and I'll show you the person more knowledgable about music. And he won't be the one with an iPod.
Maybe that's a hard concept for you to understand, so let me make it easier.
1. Economics. I can listen to any of over a million songs for 10 bucks a month. The cost of downloads / CDs prohibits you from LISTENING to the amount of music I can. Subscribers can listen to a more diverse selection then you could ever dream of with iTunes or physical media. Even with a budget of $500 a week you will not have scratched the surface of what a subscriber has at their fingertips.
2. Volume. Even if you could afford to buy a library that equals that of a music subscription service customer, where will you put the data? Do you have the hard drive space? Can iTunes handle it? Nope. And if your hard drive ever crashes you're out of luck. My million+ songs can be accessed from any Internet connected computer on the planet. You can carry at max of what, 60 gigs?
3. Time. While you download, transfer and maintain your files I am listening to music. It's all done for me. Also, if I read a great review of a brand new album by a critic I respect, I can search for it and be listening to the full album in a matter of seconds. Then I can make a determination on whether to buy it. You can listen to :30 clips. Lame. When I buy a CD I am 100% certain that it's something I love.
This brings me to another point against your ignorant and irrational point of view. People who use subs also buy CDs and pay for downloads. We are just much better informed customers. Would you buy a suit without trying it on or a car without driving it? Why buy music you are not familiar with?
Simple no?
Maybe that's a hard concept for you to understand, so let me make it easier.
1. Economics. I can listen to any of over a million songs for 10 bucks a month. The cost of downloads / CDs prohibits you from LISTENING to the amount of music I can. Subscribers can listen to a more diverse selection then you could ever dream of with iTunes or physical media. Even with a budget of $500 a week you will not have scratched the surface of what a subscriber has at their fingertips.
2. Volume. Even if you could afford to buy a library that equals that of a music subscription service customer, where will you put the data? Do you have the hard drive space? Can iTunes handle it? Nope. And if your hard drive ever crashes you're out of luck. My million+ songs can be accessed from any Internet connected computer on the planet. You can carry at max of what, 60 gigs?
3. Time. While you download, transfer and maintain your files I am listening to music. It's all done for me. Also, if I read a great review of a brand new album by a critic I respect, I can search for it and be listening to the full album in a matter of seconds. Then I can make a determination on whether to buy it. You can listen to :30 clips. Lame. When I buy a CD I am 100% certain that it's something I love.
This brings me to another point against your ignorant and irrational point of view. People who use subs also buy CDs and pay for downloads. We are just much better informed customers. Would you buy a suit without trying it on or a car without driving it? Why buy music you are not familiar with?
Simple no?
Subscriber growth is excellent.
I suppose by your logic Ashley Simpson is the best musician in the nation since she is currently selling the most?
Get a clue sheep. baaa
- You're hopeless
-
by tinyelvis
January 21, 2006 4:46 PM PST
- You're hopeless.
-
Reply to this comment
View
reply
-
-
See all 56 Comments >>Subscriber growth is excellent.
I suppose by your logic Ashley Simpson is the best musician in the nation since she is currently selling the most?
Get a clue sheep. baaa