Can music streaming ever be a viable alternative to hard copy and download music sales? WMG’s Edgar Bronfman has his doubts, and looking at some of the figures being published in the media they might seem reasonable. Increases in the number of users on services that provide on-demand music streaming (where you pick the track you want to hear like MOG, Spotify, and Grooveshark) correspond to decreases in music sales, while increases in use of radio’ streaming services [Last.fm, Pandora] seemed to drive more sales. There doesn’t seem to be any mystery as to why this might be; Spotify’s and MOG’s users no longer have any reason to buy music from other sources once they’re signed up (particularly as they can put their playlists on their iPods and other mobile devices if they buy a premium account), while Pandora and Last.fm’s customers have no guarantee of getting a particular track on their playlist again, so they have to buy it to hear it whenever they want. This might seem to be an open and shut case for the record labels; one service drives sales, while another cuts revenue – but it’s not quite as simple as that. Spotify has massive customer appeal, as the hordes that try and sign up every time they re-open user registration prove, and it also drives a lot of interaction with listeners; according to Spotify’s own figures the average use playlists around 15,000 tracks. The vast majority of Spotify’s users might be on the free-to-listen ad supported plan, with only single figure percentages signed up to their £10 a month premium package, but it’s clear that the proposition is incredibly attractive to consumers. The premium users represent a healthy annual income for the record labels to share with the platform; £120 a year is not an insignificant spend, and the potential for fledgling on demand platforms to increase their advertising revenue so that even the non-paying customers are generating profits for the record labels is proportional to the platforms’ desirability and popularity,
On demand services are what the consumer wants, and are proven to reduce the incidence of file sharing and online music piracy, something that unequivocally costs the music industry. Cutting off support for such services would surely drive a proportion of users back to illegal, non-revenue-generating, methods of consumption. Assessing the profitability of on demand against radio streaming will have to be done over the coming years as the platforms mature and adjust their business models, but it seems unlikely that killing off the most eagerly recieved of the net’s music biz babies just as they’re getting established would be a rational strategy for the industry.
For our part, we’re seeing tangible revenues come back for our artists from on demand services, and we’re happy to be able to help independent artists get music up on Spotify and in other online stores.
Here at RouteNote we are always trying to improve our digital music distribution service. On Friday we announced the launch of three new partners, Napster, Deezer and Thumbplay. If you are a new artist to RouteNote then you can easily signup to take advantage of these new partners straight away. However, if you are an existing RouteNote artist you need to do the following steps:
Login and Head to your My Content section
Select the Edit button for each track you want to add to the new partners (Thumbplay, Napster and Deezer).
Select the new partners via the Tick boxes (or select all button)
Hit Save Changes and your Done!!
Here at RouteNote we are always looking to add new partners for all our artists. Stay tuned for even more coming soon!
Deezer is a French business, but has agreements with all 4 major labels to stream ad-supported music to their 9 million registered users across 35 different countries. In the three years since its launch, Deezer has been voted the most innovative website of 2007 by readers of 01Net, ahead of both Facebook and Dailymotion. Deezer also won the 2008 Red Herring award, for Europe’s most innovative web companies, among various other awards. The proof of their success is really in the number of people listening to music through their service, which keeps on growing. In addition to their music streaming service, Deezer also offers:
- Access to radio channels: Hip Hop, Rock, Electro, Jazz, Live, French Scene, Disco etc.
- Surfing intelligent online radio
- Information about artists, albums, tracks, introducing subscribers to new music
- Sharing playlists, chat and musical tastes with friends via the community of ‘Deezernautes’
- Watch videos
Napster was the first cat among the digital pigeons with it’s peer to peer service, but they’ve come a long way since their rebellious beginnings, and now their subscription service offers both unlimited streaming and a number of DRM free downloads per month, available online and on smartphones in Europe and the USA.
Thumbplay is the largest mobile content provider in the U.S. Operating both web based and mobile services, including licensed music, video and games. They have deals with all the majors, and several independent labels and artists, and now you can get access to their services through RouteNote. Hundreds of millions of cellphones in the US are waiting to download your music.
To get your music live with these music stores and all our other online music partners, sign up for our music distribution service, and get our new music upload tool. You can have your tracks online in minutes, and earning you money in a matter of weeks.
We7 boss Steve Purdham revealed on-stage at MidemNet that the streaming music firm will launch its premium offering on 1 February.
The company has announced more details:
Unlimited stream access to more than 4 million songs – £4.99 a month, no ads.
Premium Plus includes the above plus mobile access with iPhone and Android apps – £9.99 per month
“The new premium services are about choice for the consumer,” “In the new digital music economy there is no single business model that fits all. That is why we give consumers the ability to listen to great music how they want, where they want and at a price they are prepared to pay.” says CEO Steve Purdham.
We7 are going to just compete head on with Spotify in the UK market. Im not exactly too sure this is a good idea. I dont really understand why We7 didnt just focus on becoming more of an international online music streaming site. We7 is very popular here in the UK, but they are still a long way behind in other markets. Maybe they are trying to run before they can walk. However, I understand that they feel they need to launch such a service as other competitors such as Spotify, Grooveshark, Thumbplay and MOG, move into this market.
Deezer which is the French version of We7 has released a premium offering coupled with a few new product releases. Techcrunch UK reports:
Basically, the Deezer website, where users can listen to streaming music and create playlists, will remain free of charge while users who would like better sound quality (up to 320 kb/s) and no more advertisements can opt to pay €4.99 per month for Deezer HQ. The Premium offering (€9.99 / month) is the most interesting though, since it gives users the opportunity to download a full-fledged Adobe AIR desktop application and lets them gain access to their accounts through a wide range of mobile devices, including the iPhone, iPod Touch and multiple Android-run and Blackberry devices.
Deezer also commissioned a study that showed more than 80% of its user base was keen on getting mobile access, while 40% was interested in better sound quality. The combination of in-browser, desktop client and listening to music on the go via mobile, has now made Deezer a great Spotify competitor. This is the type of convergence I keep wishing every online music service would offer.
Interesting post over at MidemNet about why Deezer (a French streaming service) feel they are now coming in second place to Spotify: the author basically concludes that investment and innovation in the next wave of technology is essential if we’re going to move away from both the lugubrious bricks and mortar retail system of yesteryear, and the increasingly piratical, file sharing future that looms threateningly ahead of the online music industry.
Grooveshark are now firmly cemented as members of the free music for music fans fraternity along with others including We7, Deezer and obviously new giants Spotify. (we know there not all completely free!) With these guys being directly involved in the way music is changing, and likely being involved in someway with the big four record labels that everyone is quickly getting fed up with eventually go under, its only natural that they’d be knocking around The Future Of Music Summit.
Some interviews, be they amateur ones, are leaking its way to the net. Jack DeYoun (VP of label relations at Grooveshark) was mauled outside the summit by Scott Stead. The interview goes well until Jack reveals his favourite band…… so close.
disclosure: RouteNote is partners with Grooveshark.
Can music streaming ever be a viable alternative to hard copy and download music sales? WMG’s Edgar Bronfman has his doubts, and looking at some of the figures being published in the media they might seem reasonable. Increases in the number of users on services that provide on-demand music streaming (where you pick the track you want to hear like MOG, Spotify, and Grooveshark) correspond to decreases in music sales, while increases in use of radio’ streaming services [Last.fm, Pandora] seemed to drive more sales. There doesn’t seem to be any mystery as to why this might be; Spotify’s and MOG’s users no longer have any reason to buy music from other sources once they’re signed up (particularly as they can put their playlists on their iPods and other mobile devices if they buy a premium account), while Pandora and Last.fm’s customers have no guarantee of getting a particular track on their playlist again, so they have to buy it to hear it whenever they want. This might seem to be an open and shut case for the record labels; one service drives sales, while another cuts revenue – but it’s not quite as simple as that. Spotify has massive customer appeal, as the hordes that try and sign up every time they re-open user registration prove, and it also drives a lot of interaction with listeners; according to Spotify’s own figures the average use playlists around 15,000 tracks. The vast majority of Spotify’s users might be on the free-to-listen ad supported plan, with only single figure percentages signed up to their £10 a month premium package, but it’s clear that the proposition is incredibly attractive to consumers. The premium users represent a healthy annual income for the record labels to share with the platform; £120 a year is not an insignificant spend, and the potential for fledgling on demand platforms to increase their advertising revenue so that even the non-paying customers are generating profits for the record labels is proportional to the platforms’ desirability and popularity,
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