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.
11 Comments
Well said, that man.
I bloomin’ hate commercial radio, and even with the BBC you still get loads of crud, but because I’m listening to a radio that *only* plays what I want, i can live with the ads.
For me, so far, it’s WIN all round.
Spotify is a gift from the heavens. You forgot to mention the joys of creating playlists and sharing them with other people, or building collabrative playlists. Happy days indeed. The ads have only annoyed me once, when I was listening to The Avalanches and all the tracks seam into the next except for once when Moira Stuart interrupted to tell me about filling in tax returns. Put me right off me groove I tell yous!
Sounds really good. I hadn’t heard about it.
Hook a brother up with an invite, old chap?
Stav hooked me up with this and it is sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!
its awesome
This an excellent post on a fantastic new music streaming site. As an American, I have not had to chance to test Spotify out, but I am interested to see how it plays out in the UK and whether or not it ends up being ported to the states. The fact that the developers are currently working on taking it to mobile devices could really make it an attractive option if it is done correctly. I was curious as to what you thought about the pricing levels for Spotify on both the single day and monthly passes. Do they seem reasonable to you and do you think the average UKer would be willing to put money down on it month after month? I am not totally sold on the concept of subscription models at this point in their product cycle for the reasons you mentioned, most importantly the fact that you cannot take them into your car and drive with them yet. As someone who listens to a majority of music while driving, it does not seem like a reasonable expenditure to me yet. Until this portability happens, do you think people will really be willing to switch over from downloading mp3s illegally, as some 95% are done today, to listening to ad based music? Without the portability it does not seem likely that the majority of the population would be willing to switch over to a service that would seem to be inferior to just downloading music and taking it with you, regardless of the legality of doing such a thing.
Along the same line of thought, I am not entirely unconvinced that an ISP surcharge is a bad idea, particularly while the technology for streaming devices is still in the beginning of its product cycle. It would appear that a surcharge would at least provide a blanket to cover all of the illegal downloading and give record labels some much needed cash inflow. It would be interesting to see how it would compete with streaming services if say there was an opt in or out clause that made downloading mp3s legal and free as long as you agreed to pay the monthly fee for that right. If they made the monthly fee’s similar to what Spotify and other streamers charge, do you think ad supported music would still exist as a truly viable option that would dominate the online market?
Wow, quite a lot there Jon!
Firstly I’d say I’m not convinced about the pricing structure, £9.99 a month, over a hundred pound a year – I’m not sure that many people will pay out that sort of money just yet, especially given that you cannot take this music with you if you go for a run, while your on a train or driving to work. If it got to this point in the future then I can see no reason to download and store music, however I think this is a long way off.
As an employee of an ISP I can tell you that we in the industry are very much against the idea of a surcharge, not least because it risks opening the floodgates of more surcharges from anyone who feels they’re owed a living. The thought of passing on this charge to our customers who do not download music is commercial suicide. Yes, the record companies have suffered because of this but they have done little to convince the public that they deserve the help, their approach for far too long has been wrong and has won them no fans. Throwing legal threats to children and their parents, accusing people of copyright theft without any reasonable proof etc. Even people who didn’t download illegally were inspired to do so to show their frustration at the industry.
Compare this to Radiohead’s ‘pay what you think it’s worth’ download of their last album – most people who posses that album paid for it. They did this because the band didn’t treat them like criminals, and they were rewarded for it.
An opt in and out scheme is a great idea but unworkable – how can you stop those who haven’t paid the fee downloading what they want? Unless there was only one source on the whole internet to buy your music from – can’t see the anti-trust/monopolies commissions going for that.
There is much to do (portability issues, available internet access, pricing structure, global access) however I truly believe that a streaming service such as (but not limited to) Spotify could be the way we choose to listen to music in the future, only time will tell.
I’m so into this, it hurts.
Does Spotify use p2p to distribute the data?
yes it does.
Hey – i liked your post. Would you mind sending me an invite please?
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