2012 will be the year that music streaming convinces everyone it’s here to stay. There’s no going back now. Youtube is already the biggest music platform in the world and while iTunes will continue to assert its dominance in the download store arena, even Apple have conceded that streaming is here with the launch of iCloud and iMatch, two services that stream and share content to different devices. Elsewhere we have Amazon and Google with their own cloud-based streaming music projects, Netflix launching a badly-needed streaming movies and TV platform in Ireland any time now and Deezer, the latest streaming music service on the block, hit over 130 countries including Ireland last month and offers multi-device and mobile access to a claimed 13 million songs.
As ambitious as Deezer’s plans are, we’ve seen companies in the past year fall at the licensing hurdle. We7 launched last January with a similar offering and before the end of 2011 had shifted focus from a massive streaming music library to recommendation-based internet radio. No doubt that decision was informed by lower license fees for internet radio compared to on-demand streams.
Spotify is still the best hope for a major platform breakthrough worldwide. Its agreements with major labels bring with them lower license fees that allow them to expand, but not everyone is happy – independent labels have been pulling out of the service in protest at the small revenue payments offered in recent months.
Perhaps the most important thing for new services gaining ground this year will be Facebook’s Open Graph. You used to wear your favourite band t-shirt so the world knew your individual music tastes. No longer Sonny Jim! Zuckerberg’s company is already putting the songs you’re listening to on almost all of the above services right into your Facebook news stream, right in front of your friends’ eyes so maybe he holds all of the access keys to popularity already.
Google finally launched its Music platform in the US last week. The web giant’s answer to Apple’s iCloud offers music downloads a la iTunes as well as a cloud-based web locker in which each user can host up to 20,000 songs in their accounts and stream those songs via various devices (Android-only for now) and the web browser from Google Music.
From the off, the store was offering a claimed 13 million tracks including songs from majors Sony, Universal and EMI as well as independent distributors including Tunecore, Beggars Group, Merlin, Merge and Warp. In a shrewd move, Google’s Artist Hub allows independent artists to sell the music they own the rights to, at the price they choose, for a one-time fee of $25. They keep 70% of sales and can allow users to listen to their songs for free if they desire.
Of course, it all ties in with Google’s other recent high profile platform Google +. You can share listens of songs purchased with your friends on the social network, much like Facebook’s much touted music sharing of songs on Spotify, Rdio, MOG and more ( which has racked up 1.5 billion shares in the first two months).
Back in Europe, Spotify launched in Belgium, Switzerland and Austria (still no sign of Ireland) in the same week that 234 independent niche dance music labels represented by STHoldings withdrew their songs from Spotify, Napster (it still exists!) and other US streaming services. Their decision was prompted by a review of their accounts which showed that 82% of listens came through streaming services but accounted for just 2.6% of its revenue and a study which concluded that streaming services are discouraging to music purchasing.
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The big news in digital media in the last seven days is the launch of the streaming music service Spotify in the United States. When it first appeared about two and a half years ago, the Swedish-based company hit headlines for making all the right moves for an online music service. Its user interface is impeccably clean, its music catalogue is vast encompassing both indie and major labels, it’s easy to use and they offer a mobile app and synchronisation with your iPod.
Spotify’s move into the U.S. market makes it the music service most likely to challenge iTunes’ worldwide dominance and it is now one of the few music companies offering its services on both sides of the Atlantic. Currently Spotify is available in a handful of European countries including France, the UK and now the U.S. Regarding an Irish launch, a Spotify press rep told me: “Spotify’s long term aim is to be available in every country. We know just how passionate Irish music fans are but we don’t have any immediate plans to launch there.”
A chat site with a difference where you talk to an AI robot which chooses its answers from over 20 million conversations that have gone before yours. It’s like talking to the ghost of internet past.
Pitchify collates Spotify links for the best-rated albums on Pitchfork and Drowned In Sound.
An Irish music technology blog which interviews Irish musicians about their equipment. One for the gearheads.
The legal streaming music library Spotify had no problem finding its way into the hands of music-hungry consumers this year. Its intuitive interface and huge catalogue of music made it an instant leader in digital music services.
So it’s inevitable that with success comes scrutiny as commentators attempt to analyse and figure out exactly how Spotify is able to stream such a huge range of music and still afford to operate. It was no surprise really when it was reported in August that major labels owned a combined 18% share in the company. Continue Reading..»
Dead Fly Art
This imaginative David Shrigley-esque art collection by Magnus Muhr could change your perceptions of the humble housefly.
http://short.ie/flyart
Spotify for iPhone overhyped?
Blogger Nick Fitzsimons shares his disappointment with the Spotify iPhone app pointing to slow caching over Wi-fi and lack of play-in-background functionality as the main bugbears.
http://short.ie/spotop
Coretex – A free iPhone game
Coretex is a free iPhone puzzle game by Irish developer David Kelly which is set within a nuclear reactor core on the brink of meltdown. Grab it in the app store.
http://www.newleafgames.com
No other online music service has excited and galvanised support from enthusiasts and industry in the last twelve months more than Spotify. Its burgeoning popularity is set to explode thanks to the release of the the Spotify mobile application for iPhone and Google Android handsets.
The impressive app has a simple but clever “offline mode” which allows you to listen back to recent playlists. As its only available to premium subscribers, Spotify are pinning their hopes on enough people shelling out €9.99 a month to use it.
Another iPhone app which has impressed me this week is RJDJ, a reactive, real-time music experience which is best demonstrated by a video showing how dance act Kids on DSP utilised the format on their reactive music album.
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