Tag: Spotify

Is There a Future for Hi Def Streaming Services?

Larry Miller

cropped-01LOGO.jpg It’s OK. We know you probably don’t use Tidal’s $20 per month highest fidelity music streaming service.

Or hey, maybe you do, but the fact of the matter is most people don’t spend their hard-earned money on luxury streaming services. But level with us here— even though you might not be subscribed to a high-fidelity streaming service, are you really satisfied with your earbuds?

On this episode of Musonomics, we investigate whether there’s enough room for a profitable niche market supporting multiple competitors in the high-resolution music market.

We’ll talk to MQA CEO Mike Jbara, 7 Digital deputy CEO Pete Downton, and HDTracks CEO David Chesky to see what the future of high quality streaming could become. Is there a real future for these high-quality music streaming services, and, if so, what does that future look like? Let’s find out. As always, you can listen to the new episode above iTunes, or stream it on Soundcloud or YouTube.

The Headwinds Facing Music Startups

Larry Miller
Michael Dorf at City Winery NYC
Michael Dorf at City Winery NYC

No music startup has generated an operating profit in 20 years. Not Pandora, not Spotify.

The largest cost and greatest obstacle for music-streaming services like these is the the cost of the music they play, while prioritizing growth over profitability.  Spotify pays out 70-80% of its revenue to rights holders for its on-demand service, and Pandora about 50% of its revenue for the radio-like service it currently offers.

But music startups all across the board are struggling.  More than half of 2013’s most promising music startups no longer exist.  

Why are music startups struggling to thrive, or even simply survive?

01LOGOIn this episode, we examine several perspectives to understand why the space for music startups is so
unforgiving, and what music startups can do to be successful.

Cortney Harding, a digital music consultant, discusses the recent slowdown in the music startup space.  Edward Ginis and Brady Brim-DeForest, share of the bootstrapping approach that’s worked for OpenPlay.  David Pakman of Venrock explains why his firm has never invested in a digital media company, while Jon Vanhala, formerly of Universal Music and now at Crossfade Partners, offers insight into who can be blamed for the fact that music startups are finding it so hard to make money.  But it’s not all bad news. Music isn’t going away, it’s an essential aspect of the human experience. Our episode concludes with Michael Dorf, who tapped into the value of the live music experience and his own love of wine.  Michael is generating more profit than he ever did in the digital music business while operating and growing his City Winery locations across the country.

As always, you can listen to the new episode above via Soundcloud, or you can find it on iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Songwriters, Consent and the Age of Discontent

Larry Miller

01LOGO

Songwriters struggle to get paid while the copyright system designed to protect their rights is partially to blame, but why? In this episode of Musonomics, Larry Miller takes a look at how the copyright and royalty payment system is failing a new generation of songwriters.

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Spotify Adds In-App Video Content

Larry Miller

Daniel Ek

Spotify has been known since its launch in 2006 as a music streaming service, but with a move into video content, the streaming giant looks to be broadening its entertainment offerings.

In a new partnership with Disney, ABCNews, NBC, Viacom, TED, and Vice, and others, Spotify has added video content to its library. Daniel Ek, Spotify CEO, originally made the announcement back on May 20th, but the update went live on iOS and Android in recent weeks.
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Monday Reading List

Larry Miller

It’s Monday, and that means it’s time for another Musonomics Monday Reading List. This week, we check in on the Grammy nominations, Bloomberg explains why Spotify is so desperate to cling to their freemium model, Facebook launches a concert ticket service, Adele feels “eh” on streaming, and Music Business Worldwide releases their shortlist of candidates for the MBW Young Executive 2015 Award.
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To Stream or Not to Stream: Adele’s Question

Larry Miller

hello

Adele’s highly anticipated album, 25, releases November 20th, but questions still remain. Will she release 25 on Spotify and other streaming platforms on the same day as the physical release, or will she bait more sales by staggering the release on streaming platforms?

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Monday Reading List

Larry Miller

Monday Reading List

In this week’s reading list, The Guardian reviews John Seabrook’s “The Song Machine,” Facebook dips a toe into music streaming, The New York Times breaks down the emerging business of music curation, a rapper releases his album using Bitcoin, while two other rappers make a music video out of nothing but cats. What a time to be alive.

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Reactions To Apple Music Stream In!

Larry Miller

AppleMusic

Apple’s announcement of Apple Music, as anticipated, sent tremors of excitement, curiosity, and fear across the music industry. With the service set to launch in just 11 days, the lines of support and discontent are being drawn in predictable places.

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Apple’s Streaming Service Finally Unveiled, Promptly Under Investigation

Larry Miller

WWDC

I’m sure you’ve heard the news. A few days ago at WWDC in San Francisco, Apple finally announced a streaming service that might actually be a competitor. After years of research, posturing, acquisitions, and rumors, the Cupertino tech leader will launch Apple Music.

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