Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Leander Kahney: An iTunes Subscription Service Won't Happen
Posted by David Tucker in "Zune Talk" @ 06:09 AM
"Don't hold your breath for music subscriptions from Apple's iTunes music store -- Steve Jobs will never offer them. Renting music flies in the face of consumer behavior. Consumers want to buy music, not rent it, and a big part of Steve Jobs' genius is his firm, intuitive grasp of how consumers behave, and tailoring Apple's technology to accommodate it -- not the other way around."
Leander Kahney agrees with Steve Jobs' assessment of the music subscription concept. Once you get past him drooling over Steve and his "firm, intuitive grasp" he does offer a good point of view for why people may not be interested in music subscriptions. The reason he gives is mainly that he doesn't listen to much new music. He has things that he knows he likes to listen to and doesn't want anything else. I know a lot of people who listen to music like this. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that either. On that front, I completely agree with Mr. Kahney. If you aren't looking for anything other than what you already listen to then just buy your music and be done with it.
Of course, I do disagree with him on an important point. He's operating under the assumption that the service is meant to be used as a vehicle to discover new music. While you CAN do that it’s not easy. Yahoo is actually very good for this as they recommend music to you based on your preferences. Zune Marketplace doesn't do this so the only real way to discover music is to slog through the catalogue.
Music subscription is not for everyone. I'm in my mid-twenties and the bands I mostly listen to today aren't the same ones I listened to ten years. For me, music subscription is an absolutely incredible service. I think what would really help other people discover the service is simply better marketing and education about what subscription really is and how to make it work for you. I'll save that for another time. In the meantime, if your music consumption resembles Mr. Kahney then you can probably pass on subscription.
Leander Kahney agrees with Steve Jobs' assessment of the music subscription concept. Once you get past him drooling over Steve and his "firm, intuitive grasp" he does offer a good point of view for why people may not be interested in music subscriptions. The reason he gives is mainly that he doesn't listen to much new music. He has things that he knows he likes to listen to and doesn't want anything else. I know a lot of people who listen to music like this. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that either. On that front, I completely agree with Mr. Kahney. If you aren't looking for anything other than what you already listen to then just buy your music and be done with it.
Of course, I do disagree with him on an important point. He's operating under the assumption that the service is meant to be used as a vehicle to discover new music. While you CAN do that it’s not easy. Yahoo is actually very good for this as they recommend music to you based on your preferences. Zune Marketplace doesn't do this so the only real way to discover music is to slog through the catalogue.
Music subscription is not for everyone. I'm in my mid-twenties and the bands I mostly listen to today aren't the same ones I listened to ten years. For me, music subscription is an absolutely incredible service. I think what would really help other people discover the service is simply better marketing and education about what subscription really is and how to make it work for you. I'll save that for another time. In the meantime, if your music consumption resembles Mr. Kahney then you can probably pass on subscription.
