For some time rumors have swirled around Facebook either making their own music service or partnering up with someone else. Come September 22nd at the social networking giant’s F8 conference, the truth may finally be set free. But unlike past rumors, the actual announcement may prove quite surprising…
Users of Last.fm in the U.S. UK, and Germany will have some hard choices to make in the near future. Popular music streaming service and Pandora competitor, Last.fm, has announced that the aforementioned countries will now have to pay extra for mobile access and Last.fm usage on desktop/laptop devices. While the move to a pay-to-play scenario has already been enacted in many other places of the world under Last.fm’s reach, the U.S., UK, and Germany remained free of charge.
While we understand that the freemium model doesn’t always work and that Last.fm has to make some changes in order to make money, the added price isn’t justified. Take for example competing (and much better) service, Spotify. This non-U.S. music streaming service also allows playlist creation, downloading of content to local drives, and gives users the ability to choose the play order of songs.
Hopefully Last.fm follows the $3/month charge that is shared in other countries. Because if it is $5+, I can see quite a few defecting to other services that are either cheaper or offer more features for the money.
Users of Windows Phone 7 devices and Xbox Live will still be able to enjoy Last.fm for free, as will web users. None of these portals will see any price addition.
It appears that popular online streaming music service, Pandora, is getting cold feet in regards to making the move to Windows Phone 7. The tweet before you was pushed out several days back, and highlights the Pandroa team’s apparent lack of Windows Phone 7 plans. What’s particularly odd about this is that they were specifically announced as a WP7 launch partner. Of course, there was that whole little issue with Microsoft slapping an Angry Birds icon on their WP7 webpage without the developer’s permission, and then having said developer, Rovio Mobile, call Microsoft out via Twitter. So anything is possible.
We’ve reached out to Pandora to see if perhaps their social media team isn’t exactly up to speed with the company’s true course of action. Stay tuned…
We just heard back from Pandora PR a little while ago. This is what they had to say:
There was some confusion. Here’s the deal: while we’re excited to see companies innovating and, while we’re not ready to make an announcement specifically related to the Win 7 phone, we generally want to be everywhere our listeners want us to be.
Doesn’t really tell us anything, does it?
In what is another example of major music label’s massive mishandling of their own industry, Billboard has revealed some information tonight that is rather depressing — Spotify’s US ventures “are back to square one”. The cause is as many would guess, money. Specifically, the inability of the labels to agree to a reasonable dollar amount to charge Spotify as well as apprehension with the freemium model Spotify has perfected over seas. Years of fat cat living have spoiled the labels’ senses for the finer things in life — much finer things than they deserve, mind you.
It’s a shame really. Spotify is a great music streaming service that european users have been able to enjoy for quite some time now. The continual screw ups that the major labels commit hurt not only themselves, but end users as well. Spotify too is hurt. Each day they don’t have a service available in the US, they’re losing potential customers to the likes of Pandoara, Last.fm, Rdio, and so on. Later this year, Apple and Google are rumored to be offering their own streaming services as well. Clearly the fight is close.
Hopefully the labels can get their heads out of their asses and get something hammered together for the sake of music lovers everywhere. Because the worst case scenario — and nobody wants this — is Spotify becoming irrelevant by the time it manages to crawl into the US. Either way, it’s a simple yet clear signal that the major labels in the US need to die, seriously. They do nothing but suck money from artists and prevent any type of useful innovation and progress in the industry they claim to support. Anyone still hoping for Spotify?
Don’t write off Spotify and the US just yet. Looks like the allegations above aren’t entirely true…according to Spotify that is…
Oh geeze, another one of those music industry posts. Just stay with me for a minute. It’s actually quite important. Do you use any streaming services such as Last.fm, Pandora, and for those lucky humans outside of the US, Spotify? If so, you may want to get ready for a much thinner library of music to pull from. Warner music has announced that they see this “free” streaming business as detrimental to the music industry their business model and as such, won’t be licensing their music for said services in the future.
Straight from the horses mouth:
Free streaming services are clearly not net positive for the industry and as far as Warner Music is concerned will not be licensed.
“The ‘get all your music you want for free, and then maybe with a few bells and whistles we can move you to a premium price’ strategy is not the kind of approach to business that we will be supporting in the future.”
At no point in the last few years have I seen an honest attempt by any major music label to actually get into the digital movement full swing. Sure they’ve started grudgingly doing free, ad-supported things such as music streaming services, but they’ve done so because they’ve had to. Not because they want to necessarily. They’d much rather continue to charge you $15-$20 for a CD instead of selling you a $0.99 song. Fact of the matter is, that $0.99 is all we want these days. They are going to have to get used to that, adapt, and suck up to the fact they’re not going to be able to run massive companies built on ripping people off any longer.
If these large music labels who claim to be so destroyed by piracy were really that worried about the very thing they decry, you’d think they’d take 30 seconds to actually look at what drives people to piracy — price and availability. Two simple and blatant examples:
Consumers won’t be able to find popular music on services such as Pandora and Last.fm anymore, nor will they stand up for the price gouging of $15+ for a CD. End result: more piracy.
For now anyway it appears major labels are content with falling back into their old business model and practice of blindly blaming piracy and the internet for all of their problems instead of the real problem — them and their business model. Great job Warner. As if I actually monetarily supported you now, you sure as hell won’t be getting any support from me anymore…
Despise all things proprietary? Have a penchant for the more obscure gadgets that only true diehards know of? Make room then, for another gadget at your table. The “Pandora” is a music/video/game/emulating gadget that has been a long time in the making. Obstacle after obstacle appeared and seemingly rendered it vaporware, with months going by nary a peep.
According to Open-Pandora’s homepage, our wait appears to be over. Of course, even though pre-orders are live doesn’t mean the company or it’s little wonder gadget are out of the woods. So if there are any doubts floating around in your head, either put the wallet down and walk away, or pounce. Pounce hard by buying 10 of these! Ok, don’t go quite that far.
In all seriousness, if you want to snag one of these sooner rather than later, you’re best bet is to send a few dollars to the team now so that they actually have the funds to make the unit later. Yes, it’s that small. But you know what? Some of the best gadgets have come from small, handmade companies and geek crews such as the Pandora team.
Interested?
Terrestrial radio, at least in my neck of the midwest woods (or lack thereof) is for all intents and purposes dead. I have 5 stations out of maybe 20 that I deem good enough to save as a preset station. The only problem is that those stations repeat the same songs day after day often playing several songs 2, 3, and even 4, times per day. In short: It sucks. For those fortunate enough to have a smartphone from Apple, RIM, Palm, or Android have probably fallen at least a little in love with streaming radio. Commercials are short or non-existent, content is ever changing, and you never have to worry about listening to the same song in the same day. Not to mention, custom playlists and other user customizable options are quickly pushing streaming radio above terrestrial radio. Personally, I’d even say satellite radio should be looking over it’s shoulder.
Imagine going to the car dealer in 2015 and right next to the upgraded audio check boxes that populate the order menu for your new car you see a “streaming radio” option. We’re very well on our way to such a thing according to Pandora CTO Tom Conrad. Speaking at the SF Music Tech Summit, Conrad went on to highlight how estimates put around 50% of Pandora’s customers using Pandora by one method or another in their vehicles. He further added that as the internet becomes more mobile and less confined to a structure, building, or collection of humans (such as a city), we’ll start to see more web content sneak it’s way into once impossible areas.
Consumers can currently purchase cars from certain manufacturers with mobile internet on board. The wireless freedom doesn’t come cheap however as the option itself is expensive with monthly bills of $40 or more tacked on after the fact. Like all technology however, it will catch on until internet in your car is no more uncommon than having a computer in your house.
It is this, Conrad says, that will help Pandora and other streaming services make the move from computer and personal electronics to evolving into a full fledged service. Just think how cool it would be to get in your car and bypass the junk (commercials) that pollute terrestrial radio, hop on over satellite radio (and the uncustomizable content) and settle on your new streaming radio. Connected to the web and powered by intelligent software means you now have access to millions of songs, free to pick and choose your road tunes to the fullest extent.
Hopeful as I may be, the hurdles and red tape Pandora faces to bring such a dream into reality are fairly extensive, though I remain hopeful. While streaming radio in your car for the masses is still some years away, streaming content in other areas of our life will only increase. For that, Conrad says, we’ll have to tune in this January to CES where at least Pandora will outline current, upcoming, and future plans. Stay tuned…
You know, it’s rather sad that yet another startup and seemingly “open” service is pushing for taxes that have no basis for being issued in the first place. Why the fuss? Pandora, though not new is still rather young in the current scope of reality. You may remember earlier this year how Pandora was putting up a fight against the RIAA and other cronies in regards to increased webcasting rates as the current monetary plan just wasn’t working for them. The rate was unjustified and stupid. Plain and simple. Well, they backed down, gave in, and subsequently lost all respect in my book. Naturally, the whole process left a sour taste in their mouth as they have as of late been helping the very people they opposed just a few months back…again. If they have to get ripped off, everyone should be ripped off.
The ‘ol switcheroo started in July when Pandora began urging users to support the BS that is the Radio Performance Tax. After a couple weeks of urging, they toned down their efforts to a point that they were pretty much invisible.
As is usual however, the content owners want more money. The stupidity shows no signs of slowing down however as Pandora is again reminding users that they too should support ripping off terrestrial radio and end users alike by supporting the Radio Performance Act.
See what’s going on? Pandora is jealous that terrestrial radio still gets away without having to pay a performance fee while they do. Yes the entire Performance Tax is stupid. Still, just because you got the raw end of the deal and lost your spine, don’t support another tax that chips away at what’s left of the music industry.
Peeved?
TechDirt
The digital touch is creeping into everything these days as is internet access it seems. A perfect example of this is the HP DreamScreen. A 10.2″ or 13.3″ picture frame that also connects to the internet to allow you to stream Pandora tunes, view Facebook, and more — all from a picture frame. Prospects of said frames will be able to also enjoy snap fish integration and the ability to choose from over 10,000 different internet radio stations. The choices we face.
Now, the technology is certainly cool and shows how the internet is becoming a necessity in every aspect of our lives, but I just don’t see the real usefulness of such features on a device. Heck, you nor anyone else is going to spend more than 20-30 seconds on average in front of this. Still, if you feel so inclined, that 10 incher will set you back $250 while the 13.3 inches of photo frame glass will come in a dollar under $300.
Specs:
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