David Emery OnlineSpotify takes the axe to its free service – can it now claim to slash music piracy?
However, this feels like a bad move. In one feel swoop Spotify is reducing its ability to say, with much credibility, that it is out to reduce the amount of piracy. If you can only listen to 10 hrs, and then only five times to one track, how can Spotify claim that it can significantly eat into the massive amount of file-sharing out there?
Obviously there’s little positive to be drawn from this move, but it was inevitable that Spotify was going to have to make some concessions to be able to launch in the US. The success they’ve had in Europe has made those discussions pretty difficult I imagine, as you’ve got the majors trying to weigh up whether they want to let the genie out of the bottle again.
Personally, I think that the limiting hours aspect of this makes sense, but I’m less keen on the pre-track limits as it just makes the whole offering a bit too complicated from a consumer point of view – I can see the 10hr limit making people upgrade, but the per-track limit making people just listen to something else.
Visit ➔The often-rumored Apple HDTV
I’m wrong a lot whenever I speak in absolutes about Apple’s future plans, but I don’t think they’ll ever release a TV.
I think, for all the reasons Marco lists, that Apple will enter the TV market. It’s fractured, difficult and confusing for the consumer – it reminds me exactly of the pre-iPhone mobile phone market. And the pre-iPod market. And the pre-iPad market.
Visit ➔Speculation on an Amazon iPad competitor
I’d bet on Amazon releasing a true tablet, competing more directly with the iPad than the Kindle currently does, in the possibly-near future.
I think it would be shocking at this point if Amazon didn’t release a Kindle branded Android-based tablet this year. I think they’re the only ones out there that have the marketing reach and volume potential to compete with Apple, but I think they’re behind on hardware and software design (sure, the Kindle is the best eReader out there but it still feels like an Apple product of about 5 years ago).
Visit ➔Amazon: Look at ads and we’ll knock $25 off the Kindle
You agree to use sponsored screensavers and ads at the bottom of the home screen and Amazon gives you $25. I’m convinced a Kindle will eventually be free.
I, too, am convinced that the Kindle will eventually be free.
Visit ➔Streaming or Buying Books: Will Readers Choose a Subscription Model for E-Books?
A Spanish startup called 24symbols is launching this summer with the promise to do just that: provide a subscription service and become the "Spotify for e-books."
I’ve been wondering when someone would do this. I’d argue that for most people they’d be more into the idea of not owning books then they are into the idea of not owning music; I know I certainly don’t re-read books that often, and I for one would cope with tasteful adds contained within if it meant a model like Spotify could work.
Visit ➔The Universal Sigh Distribution
More photos on Flickr.
Lockers vs Streaming Services
I don't get the idea of music locker services like the one Amazon just announced. If I'm going to stream music from the cloud, why should I continue to buy files and collect them? I've been a Rhapsody subscriber for something like 11 or 12 years and although it has taken a while to get used to, I vastly prefer subscription streaming services over file based music. I've just stared using rdio on my Android and on the web and I love it too. I've used Spotify and it is also excellent (once it is fully licensed in the US).
Amazon’s service is certainly interesting, but if you’re going to pay for a cloud-based music service why not use Spotify?
Personally right now – and this makes me sound pretty backwards, I know – I’m quite content with neither; having music on my iPhone which I have with me all the time eliminates the need for a locker-style service, and I pretty much just listen to new music so Spotify isn’t that useful.
Visit ➔Worldview is here, and it's awesome
Every time you send a campaign, we'll show you who is opening it, clicking links, forwarding it to their friends, liking it on Facebook or mentioning it on Twitter. Here's the cool part—we'll show you this on a map, in real-time, all wrapped in a gorgeous UI.
This is totally awesome – I love a bit of real time data visualisation. Makes me want to switch to Campaign Monitor (although with the amount of mailing lists we operate I think that would be a bit prohibitive).
Visit ➔The Universal Sigh
The Radiohead album ‘The King of Limbs’ will be available for purchase in all good record stores everywhere on Monday 28th March, except in the United States of America and in Canada, where for reasons beyond the purview of this writer it will be available from Tuesday 29th March. On VINYL! On COMPACT DISC! As a DOWNLOAD!
To commemorate this momentous occasion, Radiohead have produced a newspaper which will be given away, free, gratis, without cost to the consumer by accredited vendors from a multitude of locations WORLDWIDE!
This is what I’ve been working on for the last few weeks.
Should be a lot of fun on Monday – I’m particularly excited to see how the photos element turns out. I’ll blog about it in more detail in due course…
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