2009 has
been a big year in music industry developments. I don’t want to re-cap here
what you already know, but 2009 was the year in which iTunes finally found
itself with a formidable challenger brand that wasn’t P2P. As Spotify goes from
strength-to-strength, I hope that 2010 sees that service face down the cynicism
about its commercial prospects and demonstrate to all that by giving consumers
what they want, success will follow, and bring a win-win for both consumers and
the industry.
I also applaud governments actively taking a stand. Though in the UK the Mandelson-led policy is somewhat muddled has a fair way to go to be helpful, it is at least, and at last, a policy. Services wise I also really like the look of MOG’s all-access service and the newly beta-launched M-flo. Both, like Spotify before them, seem to be offering something different and making their positioning clear. I’ve yet to see any puns about how many lives MOG can have following that other feline industry survivor Napster.
I wonder if the second-generation subscription brands will survive another year though. I also have less hope for ISP-based solutions, from what we’ve seen so far. Like Nokia’s Comes With Music, I see signs of too much compromise and not enough clarity and strength in the propositions to add value to music fans - yet.
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