With such services as those listed below, music lovers don’t need to house digital music in computer hard drives and iPods. Instead, the world of music sits pooled in the digital ether, and people listen to what they want, when they want. But they don’t own the songs; in essence, they rent them.
Most of the services have free and paid options. Free usually means you have to sit through advertising, and you won’t be able to use the service on a mobile phone, among other things. People who pay — it usually costs $5 to $10 a month — get mobile capability and can listen ad-free.
Now Facebook is getting into the game. The social-networking site hasn’t launched its own streaming application, but it is working with existing services to permit song sharing through the Facebook site.
The online world has fostered its fair share of duds and flops, but streaming music seems like something that is here to stay. 0Gbally, there will be 5.9 million paying customers by the end of 2011, said Aapo Markkanen, an analyst with ABI Research Worldwide who studies digital music.
People are spending about $400 million a year on streaming music, but that number is forecast to grow beyond $7 billion in five years, Markkanen said.
The degree to which people embrace streaming depends upon their generation and their facility with technology.
For people immersed in the digital world, “streaming will most likely be the main way they consume recorded music,” he said. “Among older consumers, more traditional music services (such as iTunes) will also have a relatively strong appeal.” And plenty of people, too, will continue buying physical recorded music.
Streaming services, he said, represent “the music industry’s best chance to make people pay” for music. “Pirated content will always be out there, and will always be free, so to beat it you’ll have to offer something better,” like top-notch discovery engines and unlimited catalogues.”
Marrkanen pointed out that “discovery” — finding new music — is a streaming-music strength. Pirates steal what they already know they want, but streaming services — good ones, at least — help people find new stuff.
Spotify
Cost: Free (you will listen to advertising, and streaming will be limited); $4.99/month (unlimited streaming); $9.99 (unlimited streaming and mobile support).
Catalog: 15 million songs
Features: Users can blend their personal music library with the Spotify application; it works well with Facebook.
MOG
Cost: Free (ad-supported, with requirements for promoting MOG and sharing it with others); $4.99/month, Web-only; $9.99, Web and mobile)
Catalog: 12 million songs
Features: With its custom radios, playlists, “editors’ picks” and more, MOG is a great place to find new music.
Rhapsody
Cost: $9.99/month, for Web and one mobile device; $14.99 for Web and three devices.
Catalog: 12 million songs
Features: A legacy (it was one of the first services), custom radio stations, easy to navigate.
Rdio
Cost: $4.99/month, unlimited streaming; $9.99, unlimited on desktop and mobile.
Catalog: 11 million songs
Features: Like MOG, Rdio has put a lot of energy into the social side of listening to music. It’s easy to find new music through other Rdio subscribers and through the Rdio site.
Douglas Brown: 303-954-1395 or djbrown@denverpost.com
