Spotify - Changing the Music Game?
It has arrived! Online music giant, Spotify, has finally launched in the United States and is causing quite a frenzy. Being touted as a "game-changer," the service promises to change the way we enjoy our music. But how?
First, a hypothetical... If given the choice between paying $10 or more for a single album that you own and can listen to anytime, anywhere or paying that same $10 monthly to listen to that album and any other 15 million or so songs anytime, anywhere - which would you choose?
Spotify, a self-proclaimed "on demand music site," has entered the U.S. with a bang; inking deals with four major record companies (EMI, Warner Music, Sony Music and Universal) and boasting a music database of over 15 million songs. But in an industry riddled with piracy and falling record sales, how do they do it? Simple - royalties. Spotify creators, have teamed up with the biggest record companies in the U.S., and in exchange for their catalogs, the service will pay a small amount of royalties each time a song is played. The service offers three product levels - free, unlimited and premium - with the highest package making all music from the database available for streaming on any device.
So what makes this a game-changer? It crushes the competition and changes the way music lovers get their fix. Spotify blows services like Pandora Radio out of the water by allowing users to choose the songs they want to listen to and create their own playlists. The service even rivals Apple's iCloud, because not only do paid users have the ability to upload and stream their own "local music," but they can stream any and all songs from the 15 million song database on any device. Because Spotify changes the way music lovers access their music, it is possible it will even curb Internet piracy. Although the free service is by invitation only at this time, it's possible that instead of illegally downloading a song, more people may simply use Spotify instead.
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