For months we’ve been subjected to speculation that Spotify, the music streaming service that has gained a massive following in Europe, would finally launch in the United States. The service, which is currently available in France, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the UK has steadily been making moves in the US, and might see a launch date before the end of the year. Unlike online radio and music streaming service Pandora, Spotify allows you to listen to any track you like, any time you like. Their premium service works on your mobile phone, and has an offline mode for playlists. The offline mode syncs your playlists to your computer or mobile phone, so you can listen to them without an Internet connection.
Last week Spotify signed an American distribution deal with Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music label. The service already has agreements with Sony and EMI Music Group and is now just waiting to sign a similar agreement with Warner Music Group. Many believe the service won’t go live without it, since it would offer a hole in the music catalog. Earlier this week they secured funding totaling $100 million based on a $1 billion valuation. The addition funding could further prove that Spotify’s launch in the U.S. is approaching. Spotify’s biggest obstacle might be the industry itself. They need to entice users to stream music rather than pirate it while at the same time not discourage them from buying it or becoming paying subscribers.
The question that remains is weather Spotify will be successful once it reaches the U.S. Personally I can almost guarantee that it will get users to try their free trial, after all – it lasts 6 months. How many other companies do you know that are willing to let you try their service for half of the year at no cost? It definitely has to the right idea at getting your foot in the door. Once you’ve used something for so long, it’s kind of hard to go without it, and the $10 monthly fee by not seem as bad. Personally I can’t wait – so Spotify – hurry up and get here.
References
Spotify sings Universal Music, may get to U.S. after all.
Spotify Closes New $100 Million Funding Round, U.S. Launch Nears
Can Spotify and Hulu Move Forward Without Killing The Businesses They Rely On?
Spotify.com
6.18.2011
6.04.2011
Parental Advisory Warnings - Could They Be Back?
Parental Advisory Stickers. We’ve all seen them. Those iconic little black and white stickers stamped on the cover of ‘explicit’ music, film and television. They were originally meant to inform parents of minors that the music they were purchasing for their children had ‘explicit content’ and was not suitable for children of all ages. Yet despite a warning label on a CD cover, teenaged consumers have made up the core audience for one of the most controversial and arguably most successful rap stars to emerge within the 21st century, Eminem, making one wonder what good the labels do in the first place.
On the other side of the world however, many believe they are still relevant and important. Now, the UK is taking steps to bring the parental advisory warnings to new medium – online music videos. In an age where YouTube is one of the most visited sites on the Internet, the UK government and the British Recorded Music Industry (BPI) are set to introduce a new set of guidelines that will affect music in the UK.
Today YouTube, Napster, Spotify, and Vevo do not have a uniform parental guidance system although Apple’s iTunes does. The iTunes online store runs a warning system on its audio and video content. Yet following recent concern about the amount of risqué music content that is too easily available to children online the BPI is going to begin introducing parental warning logos before songs and music videos on those services that currently do not employ a parental guidance system.
Although not yet a standard in the US, it’s only a matter of time before a similar stance gets adopted in the states. However one has to wonder how playing a warning at the beginning of a video or a song is going to have any affect if there is not a responsible adult around to see it appear. After all, at some point those stickers on CDs became an indication of which records we wanted to buy – the one that had them.
References
Parental Warnings to be Introduced for Online Music
On the other side of the world however, many believe they are still relevant and important. Now, the UK is taking steps to bring the parental advisory warnings to new medium – online music videos. In an age where YouTube is one of the most visited sites on the Internet, the UK government and the British Recorded Music Industry (BPI) are set to introduce a new set of guidelines that will affect music in the UK.
Today YouTube, Napster, Spotify, and Vevo do not have a uniform parental guidance system although Apple’s iTunes does. The iTunes online store runs a warning system on its audio and video content. Yet following recent concern about the amount of risqué music content that is too easily available to children online the BPI is going to begin introducing parental warning logos before songs and music videos on those services that currently do not employ a parental guidance system.
Although not yet a standard in the US, it’s only a matter of time before a similar stance gets adopted in the states. However one has to wonder how playing a warning at the beginning of a video or a song is going to have any affect if there is not a responsible adult around to see it appear. After all, at some point those stickers on CDs became an indication of which records we wanted to buy – the one that had them.
References
Parental Warnings to be Introduced for Online Music
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