Foursquare up, Pandora Down, MySpace Out: Grand Predictions About Digital Music Trends in 2011. How Understanding Choice Will Bring Music Streaming To The Masses. I used to think that when it came to listening to music, what I and everybody else wanted was simple. We wanted everything, now and forever, wherever we are. And if we enjoyed the process, we’ll pay for it too (honestly, we will). But this isn’t strictly the case. Choice Paralysis Spotify Premium offers just this, but falters at one crucial point; it offers too much choice.
Choice Paralysis is that feeling of being offered everything at once, and not knowing what to choose. But what about the other types of listeners, who don’t have friends dropping songs in their Spotify or email inbox, huge lists of playlists, an RSS/Twitter Feed full of reviews from their trusted websites & blogs, and the firm belief that you can never listen to the second half of Bowie’s ‘Low’ too many times? Streaming music is now on the cusp of spilling into the mass market. How Streaming Influences Choice How Is This Being Solved? Take Spotify’s homepage, and their attempts at solving this. Compare this to We7. Why Digital Music Has Indeed Failed [VIDEO] The Most Popular Music Websites In 2010. Ryan Van Etten (@ryanve), Editor/Producer of VirtualMusic.tv, has created a fascinating music website heat map; it depicts estimated web-based music consumption in the U.S. in 2010.
The visualization is based on traffic data from Compete. Green indicates positive growth in 2010. Red indicates negative growth in 2010. Notable is the fact that cloud-based music services, aside from we7 and Rdio, had a bad year traffic-wise. we7 and Rdio may have grown, but they appear to hold a much smaller percentage of consumer mind-share than their competitors.Take a look: Let’s zoom out and view the bigger picture: For a more detailed graphic and info go here. Music 2.0 Business model white paper dec 2010. Digital Music Opportunity Is Huge And Now, Says Rhapsody. There's been some interesting back and forth in the last couple days about whether there's any real opportunity in digital music startups. To get a different take, I talked to Rhapsody, one of the few longstanding survivors in the space. Although Rhapsody has never reported a profit, the company has been serving music on demand for almost a decade, and has started seeing subscriber numbers grow again (from a low point of 650,000) after being unshackled from RealNetworks in May.
Rhapsody thinks the opportunity for digital music has never been better. First, the rise of mobile music services means that more people are listening to more music in more places than ever before. The debate started with a speech from Imeem founder Dalton Caldwell at Y Combinator's Startup School event last Saturday. Caldwell's talk is sobering, and worth watching for anyone considering founding or investing in a music startup. But Benzing agreed that it’s still a precarious space for startups. DMR2011. Music industry struggles to make digital leap of faith | Media. Stairway to heaven? The industry is pinning its hopes on streaming services such as Sony's Music Unlimited.
Photograph: Lionel Cironneau/AP In the louche Martinez hotel bar in Cannes, a sharply dressed young man launched into a tirade against the music industry convention he was attending. "All you hear is these old men whining about the past," he said. His was an extreme view, but at this year's Midem, Europe's biggest music conference, where artists such as Ra Black and Andrew A (pictured below), courted the press, there was an undeniable feeling of transition of power from music's old guard to its digital avant garde. In a keynote speech Jean-Bernard Lévy, the head of the media giant Vivendi which owns Universal Music Group, said the company was working to "reinvent the music industry", with 30% of its revenues coming from new business models, but admitted "the music business is still only part of the way to reinventing itself".
He has got a point. Les business model innovants des plateformes de musique en ligne « Glaizer Group. La crise de l’industrie du disque semble continuer de s’étendre en France si l’on se réfère aux chiffres publiés par le Syndicat national de l’édition phonographique (SNEP) pour le 1er semestre 2009. En effet, les ventes « de gros » du marché de la musique enregistrée (support DVD et CD), ont subi une baisse de 17,8% à 229,2 millions d’euros. Les ventes physiques connaissent une baisse régulière, -21% sur la période. Dans ce contexte de déclin des supports physiques, il est intéressant de regarder les canaux de distribution alternatifs tels que les plateformes de musique en ligne et notamment l’innovation des différents business model mis en place, qui tentent d’apporter une réponse adéquate au piratage (hors HADOPI), dans un objectif de relancer l’industrie musicale. - Le modèle du téléchargement légal payant : C’est l’exemple du Itunes d’Apple.
. - Le modèle du téléchargement légal gratuit : Beezik, est un peu unique en son genre. . - Le modèle du streaming gratuit : WorMee (Orange). Demand for Online Music Services Is On The Rise, But So Is Uncertainty About Their Businesses. Posted by: Peter Burrows on March 31, 2009 I’m a huge fan of online subscriptions, particularly music services such as Pandora and Rhapsody. I realized just how much I’ve come to rely on such services this weekend, when I briefly considered giving away boxes of hundreds of CDs I stored in my attic soon after I began paying my $15 monthly fee for unlimited streaming access from Rhapsody a few years back.
It was a shock to look at all those CDs, and feel nothing—none of the love I used to feel when buying, playing or admiring them as they took up space in my crowded home-office. Now, all I care about is having access to music. So long as that’s the case, I could care less about owning it—whether on CD or as a digital download. Evidently, I’m not alone. Teens(age 13 to 17) acquired 19 percent less music in 2008 than they did in 2007. Interestingly, the culprit stealing those sales wasn't piracy, NPD reports that: Rather, teens are flocking to streaming sites. And it's not just music. The Free World-The Music Model for the 21st Century. Description: The more traditional methods of doing business in the music industry are slowly becoming less common. The industry is caught in a "tug war" between those who believe in change and those who do not.
An industry unwilling to adapt to innovative change will continue producing ineffective goods in a declining economic environment. Innovation and technological advancement have challenged the music industry, causing a disruption in the standard methods of conducting business. The most apparent challenges within the music industry involve managing the disruptive technology, while searching for profitability and growth using the latest technological advancements. Online Music and Open Source Business Models — Open Source Strategies, Inc. In this part of our series on An Open Source Business, let’s take a look at our friends in the online music space and see what we can learn from them.
The Deal recently had an article about online music startups which should strike a chord with anybody who’s thinking about or trying to make a business out of open source. Look at what they had to say: Sound familiar? It should. In a nutshell, open source business models share the same strategic problem that these online music startups have: how do you make any money when most of what you provide is available for free? Let’s look at the ways: Free the Software, Sell the Services Just about every commercialized open source project follows this business model. This model works well…to an extent. Like the Free Version? Many open source software developers, and virtually all open source software companies funded by venture capitalists, engage in the “commercial/open source” model.
This is not an easy business model. The Alchemy of Open Source. Time for Digital Music to Get a Reality Check: Tech News and Analysis « Music industry: five alternative business models. The record industry is in dire trouble and the major record companies know it. According to the IFPI’s most recent figures, “physical” music sales were down 11% to $17.5bn in 2006, and, blaming piracy — both CD copying and online file-sharing — the IFPI says that overall music sales have fallen for the seventh year running. However, none of this was unpredicted, and in post-Napster 2003, Steve Jobs appeared to offer the recording industry a way into the future, through the iTunes Music Store. People didn’t want to steal music, argued Jobs, and if paid-for downloads could compete on price and convenience, then many of those illegal file traders would be converted back into paying customers.
As a result, Jobs insisted on the unbundling of albums; instead all tracks would be offered for purchase individually, at the same price — 99c — whether they be a new release, top 40 hit, or an older and more obscure song. To which the majors reluctantly complied, and would later learn to regret. Free. Music Industry Imitates Digital Pirates to Turn a Profit. BW Online | February 27, 2004 | The Mighty Lure of Online Music. By Scott Kessler It seems like everyone is in or is getting into the online music business. Apple Computer's (AAPL) iTunes is the segment's leader. RealNetworks' (RNWK) RealRhapsody and Real Player Music Store and Roxio's (ROXI) Napster 2.0 are gaining traction (see BW Online, 3/1/04, "The Nine Lives of Napster").
BuyMusic.com, EMusic, and Musicmatch are smaller industry players. In addition, we at Standard & Poor's expect Microsoft (MSFT) to launch its online music service by June. Amazon (AMZN) and America Online (TWX) are considering their options, and so is MTV. Given this significant and increasing competition, can companies make any money in online music services? LOSS LEADERS. While Apple developed iTunes internally, RealNetworks and Roxio built their online music offerings largely through acquisitions.
SKIPPING THE MIDDLEMAN. The reasons consumer outfits like Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart would offer online music services are a little less clear. LISTEN AND DRINK. CAUTIOUS RATINGS. Online-music-subscription-services-can-succeed-at-5-per-month-but-consumer-expectations-will-not-be-met-71495817. Red Herring Research Reports Limitations to Service to Achieve Profitability SAN FRANCISCO, July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- In the post-Napster era, online music subscription firms -- including MusicNet, pressplay, Napster, FullAudio -- have promised to deliver to consumers a reasonable replacement for free music downloads. According to the Red Herring Research's most recent online music report released today, consumers can be offered an affordable subscription at $5 per month, but online music firms will be forced to limit functionality, the volume of song downloads, and the selection of songs that consumers have become accustomed to via Napster.
According to the report, "Online Music Subscription Fees: Relating Operational Costs with Potential Consumer Demand," 41% of online adults visiting music sites are willing to pay a monthly subscription fee for access to the music they want. Making Money Selling Music Online. Stop the music. After years of attempting to battle illegal downloading of musical tracks on the Internet, the recording industry has taken its case to Washington.
The industry backed a bill, which was introduced in the US Senate last month. The bill would shut down sites facilitating illegal downloads, and this idea that fans should actually pay for music seems to be gaining traction, both legally and among consumers. It won't be easy: only one in five digital music tracks is downloaded legally. Now, the combination of legal progress, coupled with a shift in listening patterns, appears to support a system where consumers would ultimately pay for the privilege of listening to music. It also begs the question: Is a truce in the battle between fans who support free content, and an industry that wants to monetize music, on the horizon? Even if it is, the road to harmony will be a long one. “It’s convenient, it’s right there and no one is watching.
Pay to Play. Business Models to Fight Music Piracy | Telecom Circle. Ten years back, Napster took the world by storm when it launched its peer-to-peer file sharing service that allowed music fans to share MP3 songs with each other. This service was accused of massive copyright violations as the network was mostly used for song transfer. In 2000, A&M records along with several other companies sued Napster. Napster lost the court cases and had to pay $26 million as settlement and eventually declared bankruptcy in 2002. The outcome of Napster’s case is not important but what is important is that this case highlighted the consumer attitude towards music piracy. It made it evident that if there are enablers, consumers are bound to opt for free music irrespective of their paying capacity. Digital music is the enabler that has killed music.
Over the years, the total revenues from music sales (physical + digital) has declined which indicates the growing menace of piracy in the music industry (Refer to the chart alongside). Download/Subscription: Like this: How internet-based music services make their money. Online music services generate revenue through a combination of download sales, advertising and subscription. Since the launch of Apple's iTunes in 2003, digital music has become big business. A number of new music services have sprung up on the internet, offering legitimate opportunities for people to listen to or buy tracks online.
With the government's digital economy bill threatening heavy action against persistent piracy, legal music services are hoping to increase their appeal. But digital music is still not the road to riches for musicians. "Bands should not be under the illusion that they can plan a tour of (say) North America based on digital revenues," says Will Page, Chief Economist at PRS for Music. "What digital can provide, though, is new information on where demand is, and more options on how you want to distribute your content. The three main ways of accessing music legitimately online are through streaming, downloading or subscription services.