Just a couple of days ago I read a music industry news letter explaining some numbers associated with the two main US music streaming services, Rdio and Spotify. The article highlighted the difficulty of getting people to move up from a free to a paid service. The service provider has to pay music royalties on all music paid, yet gets revenue from less than 10% of users who splash their cash. It's a tough business and the client churn rate is massive.
Enter Google with their music streaming service, All Access. Watching the announcement yesterday I was struck by how good the interface is (I'm not a fan of the new Spotify nor iTunes default). It's a paid service, no free option beyond a one month trial. So?
First, I believe people like try before you buy, it makes them feel comfortable. Is 30 days enough? Probably it is, given the number of your friends who will tell you how good streaming music is. If you want a longer term trial - opt for Spotify, if you like the style of the system you can then opt for the better provider. Trade up, makes sense.
Second, if I were Spotify I'd stay in bed today, for them this could be the beginning of the end.
If I were Apple I'd have been up extra early, now you have in Google and Amazon two guys who want to eat iTunes Music Store. Where's your streaming option?
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