Thread June 23, 2012 editorial: comments

Dear Fellow Audiofanziners!

http://www.nutshelltek.com/sites/default/files/streaming-music-services-2010.pngA few years ago I mentioned in my editorial that I no longer seek to own music out right and that instead I stream.  I attributed that to general laziness on my part to download and upload and after a few weeks I tire of that song and that is was constant hassle to update my library.  Well, now it is official as CNN reveals that young listeners are opting to stream, not own the music, partly for similar reasons I had:  it is just too much work.  The article also foreshadows that as hard as it was to convince consumers to buy the music files, now this might be over too.  So what do we have left then?  Isn’t streaming basically an on-demand radio station you can access anytime and anywhere you have internet access?  And the best part is that you get to play DJ on your own customizable portable radio station.

This requires artists and labels to again rethink their whole business model and the way I see it there are two options for the future:  one make your money from song royalties or two, forget about this part and concentrate on other sources of revenues (live shows, merchandising etc.).  For the prior, it will require streaming services to either be run on a subscription model, or like radio stations, be littered with annoying forced advertising.  Or best you can choose to pay per month or be annoyed by ads (certainly a buzz killer at house parties).  There are several leading streaming services, which offer various models already (subscription or ads) and some are completely free but limit how much you can stream or implement other gimmicks (performance based).  In short there is something for everyone, except for me as I am currently located outside the USA where some of these services do not work due to licensing rights.

Oh well there is always YouTube!

Chater-La