Recode reports that Amazon is working on two different music subscription services - one that would compete with Apple, Spotify and Pandora and allow customers to stream all the music they want, on any device, for a $10 per month subscription fee, and another that would cost half the price and only work on Amazon's Echo family of devices.
The story notes that "the $10-a-month service would replicate features that used to be hard to find, but are now common: Unlimited, ad-free music you can play on any device you want and also download for offline playback.
"The lower-priced service would represent a novel approach. Other services have tried, without success, to offer subscriptions in the $5 range. But those have usually been variants of web radio services, which don’t let users play any song they want, whenever they want." This approach, Recode writes, "runs counter to conventional wisdom in the music business, which believes that most people value the ability to take their music with them and play it whenever they want."
The story notes that "the $10-a-month service would replicate features that used to be hard to find, but are now common: Unlimited, ad-free music you can play on any device you want and also download for offline playback.
"The lower-priced service would represent a novel approach. Other services have tried, without success, to offer subscriptions in the $5 range. But those have usually been variants of web radio services, which don’t let users play any song they want, whenever they want." This approach, Recode writes, "runs counter to conventional wisdom in the music business, which believes that most people value the ability to take their music with them and play it whenever they want."
- KC's View:
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I suppose it makes sense to create different tiers for music customers, though my personal desire is for one system that works everywhere - on my smartphone, in my car, on my computer, etc... Right now, I pretty much want to talk to my Echo and Alexa everywhere, and want it to access everything from turning on and off lights to playing music and ordering products.
Though Michael Sansolo says that I'm only going to get into trouble when I call Mrs. Content Guy "Alexa" ... since that isn't her name.
