A Journal Of A Genial Horseman On The Roof Of Society

As of January 2009 95% of music downloads are illegal, even with hard line tactics from the BPI, the dominance of Itunes and Amazon’s non-DRM music centre have not been able to stem the flow of illegal downloads.

While the music industry still doesn’t really get the internet and continues to dish out threats to ISP’s and court orders to your average person, some in the industry realise that court cases and legal download services might not be the only answer.

Enter Spotify, the music streaming software – an application that allows users to pick from a massive library of music, create and share playlists and discover new music.  Spotify has been launched some European Countries (including the UK) with the backing of lots of Major Record Companies.

The service simply works by installing a itunes like client to your Windows or Mac (Linux though WINE, and Mobile devices are being worked on according to Spotify) and away you go – the only proviso is that you have internet access – tracks are streamed in the Ogg Vorbis q5 format at 160Kb/s – quality is probably better than your average downloaded mp3 (although still miles away from CD Quality).

Available in three modes at the minute, free – ad supported, daily pass (Ad free for 24 hours) and Monthly subscription with no Ad’s whatsoever. At the moment I know of no one who is paying the monthly subscription fee but I would certainly consider it in the future as I imagine Spotify will grow in popularity and have to cover more costs – at this point I expect to hear more Adverts.

I’d also consider paying the daily fee for uninterrupted music at a party – this way people can search and choose whatever music they want to hear, in essence this becomes like a free pub jukebox.

Spotify has really got me thinking about this method of music delivery, with 75% and growing broadband penetration in UK households there are few reasons for people to consider downloading music to play via their home pc, media centre, music hub etc, when we can just stream everything we want – there is also less reason to illegally download tracks, this is a big plus for the record companies which is why I think they will continue to support this type of service.

The only real downside I can see to a streaming music service like Spotify is mobile music – with millions of people owning ipods and similar mp3 players it’s going to be a while before people no longer need permanent audio files on their devices but I think with the fast expansion of mobile broadband, free wifi and HSDPA and it’s faster successors I don’t think the idea of streaming music everywhere is beyond the realms of possibility.

Other option is the ability to have a closed system that downloads the tracks to a device that can only be played with the right credentials – then at least you could have music where there is no net access, a Car perhaps.

While there is much more to be be explored and developed in this area Spotify are certainly heading in the right direct and maybe just, maybe it’s enough to convince the record companies to stop dipping their toes in the water and get right in.

I have some invites left for Spotify if you would like one.