Record Industry In Shift To Streaming?

[koganbot]

A Jukebox on MySpace

Article in New York Times a couple of days ago, saying that the three largest record companies and some indies plan to stream huge hunks of their music through MySpace (not clear how much: all of it?). Not sure how to interpret this:

(1) Record cos. belatedly recognizing inevitable and shifting focus to using music to sell advertising rather than just downloads and CDs, but this is too late because illegal downloads and iTunes and YouTube have already gotten the jump and that's where people will continue to go.

OR

(2) This actually is a significant shift because it makes streaming the main vehicle for music consumption and makes advertising the main product (so the record cos. are doing an end-run around iTunes and going head-to-head with YouTube).

OR

(3) Somewhere in-between, record cos. using this to promote downloads as well as seeing if people will shift from buying to streaming if virtually everything is streamed.

Comments

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Sure, but if it's a visual ad presumably they want people to see it - how does MySpace Music guarantee that, particularly on portable players? And if it's an audio ad then basically you're asking people to swap their ipod for a personalised portable radio, aren't you?

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

And how long till an audio TiVo turns up :)

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Well, personalized portable radio is probably what they're going for here anyway, isn't it? Especially since the trend in radio has been just that -- making a more "iPod-like" format (was just listening to one last night for about ten minutes, and it was a totally insane playlist!). I can't imagine any of this will be very effective until they have more security that people have mobile technology that can use these applications. (I.e. until we start getting phone/internet plans that are as cheap as phone plans got after the cell phone boom.)

[koganbot]

A question is whether there will be audio commercials, as on radio. My guess is that would be suicidal, just driving people to YouTube when they're at home on PCs and to their own illegally downloaded product on their portables.