In Media Res was asked to look at recent news in the media industry. We found the most important new in the media industry is that competition is heating up. Google Inc. just introduced its own online music player that would work closely with Google Plus- the Google Inc. social network. “Google Music” is the current name of the product that Google is working with. This online music source would work much like an iTunes or the newer Spotify in a way that Google customers would share their musically libraries with their Google Plus contacts who could listen to the music for free, however the catch is you may only listen to it free once. After the one free listen, the song would be available for downloading for 99¢ per purchase, which currently is cheaper than iTunes purchase rate of $1.29. However, controversy has struck Google Inc. in regards to the participation of all four major-label companies. Without the participation of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI, the four major-label companies, dissatisfaction of customers is bound to be an issue. Without all four major-label companies this also compacts the amount of songs available for listening and downloading, for many customers they want all the convenience of a one-stop shop. Google Inc.’s competitors though have all waited until the guarantee of all four major-label companies before issuing their music services.
Online music is becoming a major trend. While Google Music is still in its elementary phase, there are certain glitches that still need to be worked out. Google Inc.’s competitor, iTunes, according to Wall Street Journal, is about to start an online music listener that will create revenue for the company as well as all the major-label companies. Spotify-a new online music listener that allows sharing between Facebook friends launched their product over the summer. Even Spotify has revenues of $10 a month for the ad-free smartphone version and $5 a month without ads. With all the competition in online music players, Google Inc. may have a hard time breaking into the music industry.
I like your point about the competition Google is facing. But I wonder if that sort of competition will make a difference for iTunes as well. I mean maybe it's not making a significant enough difference now (because they're not popular enough) but there are free programs online that let you stream music and make playlists that you could reuse (and eventually, you'll be able to upload them too). Stuff like Grooveshark.com are making music so accessible, so it's weird to think how much the music industry is bound to lose in the long run.
ReplyDeleteWhile could really threaten iTunes, unless Google can for with the major-labal companies, they are not going to gain much popularity. Whether or not Google Music works out though, iTunes is going to face a lot of competition from other sources like Hulu.
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