Spotify Continues to Grow Announcing Libspotify

We have been strong supporters of Spotify, which lets us play music on-demand and share playlists for free if you don’t mind the 20 second advert every 30 minutes. It makes more sense to listen to what you want when you want where you want rather than buying loads of tracks most of which sit dormant on the drive like the CDs on a shelf. Its somewhat strange to be ahead of the curve in the UK and Europe but Spotify certainly is one step ahead of the game and clearly states where music is going. All four major labels and indie consortiums The Orchard, Merlin and CD Baby already allow Spotify to play their music in an increasing number of European countries.

We reported on the recent move to team up with 7Digital to offer purchasing of downloads.

However its getting a whole lot better with the news on the launch of libspotify which gives developers the ability to build services on its platform using an API and port Spotify to a variety of different devices . We could be talking Spotify on mobile phones, XBoxes, PlayStations, TVs, networked audio players and any other place developers want to put it.

Spotify Add Downloads to Their Offer

On-demand European music streaming service Spotify continues to move forward and has added download purchasing to its growing proposition. Listeners can right-click track names and pick "Buy From 7Digital.com", letting them purchase files from the service. They also plan to enable users to be able to buy whole playlists that they have created on Spotify.

With Spotify gaining a loyal audience, the service adds that extra dimension. Some may ask why bother as you can listen for free but for those on the move who may not have connectivity or those who must have a library it closes that down. It also gives Spotify, an a la carte download model that could counter its reliance on its core ad-supported, per-per-day and monthly subscription models. Spotify want to allow users to listen and buy MP3s securely with one or two clicks

How do we reward the songwriters?

Music continues to loose its way and it looks more and more likely it will go DRM free and be free to consume on an ad paid model. 7digital the London based download store has dropped the price of its 3 million catalogue of MP3 tracks to 50p which way below iTunes 79p. Can you remember the original iTunes price point and do you care? Prices are tumbling, DRM is loosing ground and the record companies are all scrambling to do any deal that generates any money.

It raises the question of royalties and how the creators and performers get paid. The Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) is proposing to charge Canadian internet and wireless users $5 per month to compensate musicians for revenue losses due to illegal file-sharing. They also propose the radical step of making the sharing of music on peer-to-peer networks legal. So its like a web licence fee you pay irrespective of whether you consume, or don’t, or even if you already pay a service such as iTunes. What next? Lets have a tax on connecting to the web or an extra levy on MP3 devices including PCs. Taxation models don’t work as they create administration which adds a cost and in turn dilutes net revenues and that is without proportioning out the spoils.

Let wake up and smell the coffee, music is changing both its business model and how it is being delivered. Let’s ensure the artists and writers are correctly rewarded through the revenues raised and not sold short by clueless record companies who lurch from one mind-boggling deal to another.

What does this mean to books? Not a lot today but it shows what can happen when the kids take control of the chocolate factory.

DRM is not the People's Choice

U.K. music download store, 7 Digital, reports that its DRM-free music downloads are outselling other formats by a factor of four to one. Given the choice, consumers prefer MP3 DRM-free formats. They claim that 78% of downloads are MP3 with no DRM. They also announced that over 60% of its 3 million strong catalogue is now available DRM free in MP3 format and is expecting this to increase to 100% in the next 18 months. 7 Digital do sell audiobooks and although the range is small they do have MP3 audiobooks.

The shift towards MP3 would appear to show the consumers prefer non proprietary formats that offer true interoperability. The shift towards DRM free clearly demonstrates the direction consumers which to follow and the increased size of the DRM free catalogue is given them the necessary choice.

Audiobooks may continue with a DRM proprietary format from Audible but if music continues to move it is hard to see this as sustainable. The question is whether Audible will move or entrench. What is becoming clear is that DRM as we know it today is transient technology and may well be replaced by an open ‘honesty box’ approach potentially supported by less restrictive technology such as watermarking.