Words Go Further

Spotify, iPhone apps, U2 and the saviour of the music industry

The Spotify hype continues to grow.

There’s talk of an iPhone app which will allow streaming on the go. U2 have released their new album exclusively through Spotify and possibly most significantly, the BBC 6pm news ran a story on how this new service could be the saviour of the music industry.

What is Spotify?

Firstly, a primer: Spotify is a digital music service that has managed to secure the rights to stream a good chunk of the music industry’s catalogues to the paying (and non-paying public).

It’s different from other services in that part of its offering is an advertising supported option - punters can stream anything they like but every 20 minutes or so they get an advert. When I first tried out Spotify a few months back when it was on invite only Beta, I was getting the same advert over and over. No doubt the ad sales team at Spotify will be upping this very quickly - and on the back of the current media coverage won’t have much problem doing so with brands willing to get in early.

There’s also a subscriber version where you can pay to access music without the intrusion of advertising for £9.99 a month.

Why Spotify is saving the music industry

Spotify seems to have nailed the bread and butter of music distribution:

• Options for users - pay and have no ad or free with some ads. It means record companies can see return from a streaming service
• A substantial range of music available - there’s depth here and their content team are continuing to build this, actively asking their client base who they want on board
• Usability - basic stuff like fast, comprehensive search is there along with some nifty stuff like the ability to create and share playlists
• It’s not a closed system. For example, last.fm scrobbling is native. You just add your last.fm details in your Spotify preferences and you are immediately logging your plays. Third party client software is also springing up

Problems with Spotify

Where can Spotify go? For me, there are still a few holes.

• It doesn’t feel like a community. Yeah, you can share playlists but there are no natural social components in Spotify yet. I’d be surprised if they don’t build this in - it’s central to last.fm and would be a missed trick if they didn’t move this way.
• Streaming is all very well but most people haven’t yet given up the idea of owning their music. It may now be MP3s but the concept of not needing to own and store music is still not there for most consumers. There’s not enough trust in the cloud.
• Streaming also relies on a permanent connection. Which is fine if you are in one place but for mobile streaming to really take off - particularly in a country like the UK where many people don’t live in urban areas - the infrastructure needs to move forward. For me, not being able to listen on the London Tube network means that streaming isn’t the total solution - yet.

Despite these issues, Spotify is for all the right reasons being seen as The One to Watch. Or listen.

Tags: content, Music, spotify, startups