1 Million Subs – Spotify Now Top Paid Music Service
It's official: Spotify now has 1 million subscribers which makes it the largest paid music service in the world. Its closest competitor is Rhapsody at 750,000-subscribers.
According to Peter Kafka at Media Memo, Spotify reached this mark about a month ago, but is only now announcing it. This could give the company the negotiating leverage it needs to get the rest of the major labels, i.e. UMG and WMG, on board. One thing to consider, as the labels likely have, is that Spotify isn't just a marketer for itself. By introducing users to music streaming, it markets the idea subscription music in general.
Most people don't even know about the services that already exist in the US.
Since Apple and Google aren't looking to enter the sector, it will take a company like Spotify to raise awareness of the larger market. Even though Rhapsody is now offering 60-day trials of its service and receiving massive promotion through MTV, it remains to be seen if the company can climb up to Spotify level numbers.
Fan interest in subscription music isn't grounded in indifference, it's grounded in ignorance. Spotify could change that. And if Spotify can, its rivals may benefit.
(That is, of course, if the Apple Tax doesn't drive them all out of business.)
Subscription music has been attempting to drudge its way out of obscurity for almost a decade now, but a huge shift in consumption habits is still possible.
Clearly, fan interest does exist. 1 million subscribers and counting.
WHO CARES
How many subs does Rdio have?
If we knew, we'd tell you.
The jury’s still out for me with the subscription services. I’m concerned with royalties and artist rights being lost in translation with these things!
Andre From Idlewood
facebook.com/andrefromidlewood
This is only the tip of the musicburg…………rest assured that others of us are working on this.
As far as artist rights and royalties. Last time I checked these groups are making more then the creators of the product. How come the creators don’t get paid when their music is played over the air waves.
Under the reasons of the major lead effort it would stand that a radio station is streaming music and folks are stealing it over the airwaves for their personal enjoyment. So forget fair use
There is a lawsuit that is making its way through the courts and the fan suing majors are trying to extract money from customers to make up for the fact that they have been the sole stopping force for downloads and streams and future of music today.
They have too because once independent music is done bricks to clicks distro with socialmeida handling the marketing; Instead of the private MSN echo factory they fund they will have to adopt or die.
Only folks that market are the ones that have no advocates.
Now who is going to get advocates? Local bands or some group on a plane flying over your head on the way out of town will all your money to some place most of will never see other then on MTVVVVVVVV
Buy local means Indie……and independent artist and at least this disto co wants to give you a music subscription and download (legally) instead of lawsuits & subpoena
BTW we offered this back in 2000 as part of Windowsmedia.com roll out. So it’s not new.
who wrote this article? Have they read that Apple bought Lala and is OF COURSE looking into streaming and subscriptions.
sounds like an uninformed Spotify investor writing this and trying to get his money back.
I did, and all reports indicate that Apple isn't going to.