We talked a little bit about how watching programed
television shows is “so 70’s” (to quote Dr. Berry). This article says, “Streaming
music is cannibalising download sales.” Just a while ago we were discussing how
CDs and whole collections of things could be downloaded. Downloaders can pick
and choose one song from a CD for a lower cost rather than having to buy a bundle for more. Now I think the download has met its match--streaming. Streaming is
great; you can listen to your favorite songs and discover more songs like your
favorite songs. The problem with this, is that the artists are worried that
royalties from streams won’t make up for falling sales in their CDs and
downloads. Another issue is getting people to pay for streaming, rather than streaming
for free. Many more people are streaming for free with advertisements than
people who are paying without advertisements—about five times more people to be
exact. The article points out “every new generation of music service steals from
the last generation’s customers.” Last generation it was Apple taking Amazon’s
customers. Now, it’s Spotify stealing Apple’s customers. Researchers say the secret was that Spotify
was able to find out how many of their customers are willing to pay and make
them do it. More specifically, they convinced 25% of their customers to play
$9.99 a month. This is a big deal in a world where free digital music is at every corner.
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