I was having this discussion with Ken Shane of Popdose the other day and I really think I am right and Ken (and Bob Lefsetz) are missing the point when it comes to streaming vs sales. The thing is, while $10 is a a great price for all you can eat streaming services like Spotify for me, for music fans, it isn’t that great for the rest of the world, for the great majority of the world, who don’t want to invest $ on a month of music OR $13.99 on a digital album.
The answer is: lower the rates of digital albums nd while you won’t rid yourself of streaming services, album and singles sales will move back up.
The proof is all around you. Look at Thom Yorke’s album last week, the reason it sold well was the price, people got BitTorrent immediately, they weren’t baffled, and they didn’t care it was on a new platform, they understood what was happening and Yorke made a great amount of money for his product while giving it to his audience at a reasonable price.
It happens over and over again, Barbra Streisand sold 250K copies of her album because of the price. I figure she doubled her sales easy.
The problem with Bob and Ken’s argument is that it is the wrong fight. The assumption is Spotify and ITunes are fighting for the same piece of the pie while it is blatantly clear that they aren’t at all. It is two different type of consumers. The average listener may buy “It’s All About The Bass” without considering for a second joining a streaming club why would they want to join a streaming club? They don’t buy enough music towarrant it, but if the Meghan EP cost a buck, and the single 50 cents, they might well go the buck. If the average fan hears a song on the radio and it cost half a buck to buy it, they might buy it as opposed to wait for it to be played again.
For me, and Ken, spotify is the deal of a life time. No price is the right price at Itunes any more. But for you…?
