14/04/2011

Spotify changes its strategy and become a paying service. Goodbye unlimited freedom

tgdaily.com
Bad times for music lovers...


Our favorite service of music streaming online service has just announced a reorganization of its concept, and a modification of its free offer.


Two years after its launch, Spotify has reached the one million 
subsribers. Available in Europe only, the service would like to seduce labels to be able to develop in the United States.


Here comes the idea of becoming paying...


Now, one track will be listened only five times for free, and after these five plays, there will be an subscription compulsory to be able to hear this song again.
Beside, the whole time of free listen will be limited to ten hours by month.

These restrictions will be set from the first of May.
Spotify would like everyone to register through these new paying package, Unlimited (£4) and Premium (£10) which let you listen unlimited music as much as you want and without any advertising.

With these restrictions, Spotify would like to respond to its majors’ wishes, who would like to take profits from music in streaming, in raising their licence’s costs. Currently, Spotify boasts licenses from Sony and EMI group which have high influences in the music industry, and it is about to deal with Universal Music group.

Music in streaming is nowadays the most famous and used way of listening music for teenagers, according to a Sacem Survey.

Taking the case of France, the subscriptions represent a turnover of 14,6 millions euros in France in 2010, raising 60% in one year, against 47 millions for downloads... It seems thus understanding that Spotify wishes a new model for its service.

The Streaming, payed by advertising, has brought 9,8 millions euros last year, which confirms the fact that compared to downloads, the Streaming doesn't bring that much...


However, as it is currently the most standard way of listening to music, Spotify has decided to keep this concept of music streaming.


This is on my mind a great thing to keep the important position they get on the music market, and to restructure the subscriptions conditions (even if I am not really happy to pay for something which used to be free as you can imagine...) But I am very pleased of that service and I would have been disappointed if they decided to change everything and transform their service in a download music service or something like that.


So dear readers, we will see what will happen... In the meantime, keep listening to music, and never mind the way you are doing it.


wallou.fr