1. nesstheraven's Avatar
    I think iTunes can be killed by RIM in a matter of a year or two. The idea is to have every single song on the BlackBerry cloud. Have it nicely organized like slacker radio (maybe even buy slacker radio). Now you no longer buy music, you listen to music on the cloud. You pay a monthly, yearly, etc subscription fee, get access to every single song ever recorded, you no longer need a massive hard drive on your phone, and you have, like I said, ever single song ever recorded.

    The model is the same as the radio model. Artists get paid (say 2 cents) every time their song is listened to. If you�re a new artist, you can just upload your song/album to the BlackBerry music cloud, get a bio set up, and fill out a form so you get categorized by genre. You can have a rating system, etc. RIM could make their cloud available on all devices (Android, Apple, Windows), but of course BlackBerry gets a cheaper rate and/or some premium features, plus seamless integrating in the BB ecosystem.

    This would be a BOLD move for RIM, but with every song on this cloud, with BB owning the cloud, they could make a killing (though they would need to market the s**t out of it).

    Here is an example slogan: �Why pay 99c a song, when you can �own� every song, ever recorded, for $20/year�

    OK, maybe not a great slogan, but you get the point. No more iTunes, it is all BlackBerry Music Cloud.

    They would have to have this launched ASAP though, because I wouldn�t be surprised if Apple or Google are already developing this.
    02-07-12 11:17 AM
  2. palmless's Avatar
    “Why pay 99c a song, when you can “own"rent" every song, ever recorded, for $20/year”
    Two questions.

    1 - How is this better (for the consumer, not RIM) than the identical Spotify model and other models that work on all platforms? Why is it better (for the consumer, not RIM) to have a model that mimics a currently successful model with less device choice? Does RIM have any proven expertise delivering content to non-RIM devices? Remember, it took a year to put email and calendar on Playbook... how long to stream music to an HTC Hero, a Windows XP netbook, or a Mac?

    2 - How is RIM able to do this for about 1/5th the going rate ($20/yr v $120/yr for Spotify), when RIM's economies of scale will be so much lower due to the situation in question 1?

    Solve those two serious questions and you've got something.
    Last edited by Palmless; 02-07-12 at 11:54 AM.
    02-07-12 11:50 AM
  3. nesstheraven's Avatar
    Two questions.

    1 - How is this better (for the consumer, not RIM) than the identical Spotify model and other models that work on all platforms? Why is it better (for the consumer, not RIM) to have a model that mimics a currently successful model with less device choice? Does RIM have any proven expertise delivering content to non-RIM devices? Remember, it took a year to put email and calendar on Playbook... how long to stream music to an HTC Hero, a Windows XP netbook, or a Mac?

    2 - How is RIM able to do this for about 1/5th the going rate ($20/yr v $120/yr for Spotify), when RIM's economies of scale will be so much lower due to the situation in question 1?

    Solve those two serious questions and you've got something.
    Valid points. I'm not sure how the spotify model works in regards to how they reimburse artists. I know that iTunes sells their songs, and the artist gets a cut.

    The model I�m proposing is the radio model. Every time the artists song gets played, the artist receives 2cents. The big difference is that instead of the radio completely choosing the songs you will listen to, you can listen to whole albums, create your own playlists, and listen to individual songs of your choice. And you can also have the program make playlists for you (like slacker radio does).

    $20/year subscription = 1000 songs to break even, less than a 1000, and you pay less to the artists than the subscription fee, more than a 1000 and the artists gets more money than you got in subscription fees.

    You need to calculate the average listening habits of your users, and note that some users will listen to more than a thousand, some less, but the average needs to be less to make a profit. That said, you could maybe pay the artist 1 cent a song, or .5cents a song etc, I�m not sure what the radio contract rules are for reimbursement.

    If this is the exact spotify model, then let me know, and maybe I�m out to lunch on this radio model idea.
    02-07-12 12:09 PM
  4. xandermac's Avatar
    I think iTunes can be killed by RIM in a matter of a year or two. The idea is to have every single song on the BlackBerry cloud. Have it nicely organized like slacker radio (maybe even buy slacker radio). Now you no longer buy music, you listen to music on the cloud. You pay a monthly, yearly, etc subscription fee, get access to every single song ever recorded, you no longer need a massive hard drive on your phone, and you have, like I said, ever single song ever recorded.

    The model is the same as the radio model. Artists get paid (say 2 cents) every time their song is listened to. If you’re a new artist, you can just upload your song/album to the BlackBerry music cloud, get a bio set up, and fill out a form so you get categorized by genre. You can have a rating system, etc. RIM could make their cloud available on all devices (Android, Apple, Windows), but of course BlackBerry gets a cheaper rate and/or some premium features, plus seamless integrating in the BB ecosystem.

    This would be a BOLD move for RIM, but with every song on this cloud, with BB owning the cloud, they could make a killing (though they would need to market the s**t out of it).

    Here is an example slogan: “Why pay 99c a song, when you can “own” every song, ever recorded, for $20/year”

    OK, maybe not a great slogan, but you get the point. No more iTunes, it is all BlackBerry Music Cloud.

    They would have to have this launched ASAP though, because I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple or Google are already developing this.
    1st, kill iTunes? Really?

    2nd, think napster, amazon, your already mentioned slacker, spotify or any of the other services that haven't killed iTunes.

    3rd, your premise rests on blackberry being the only licensee? Or is there still competition in this market?


    Sent from my iPhone4s using Tapatalk
    02-07-12 12:09 PM
  5. xandermac's Avatar
    Also, if it relies on streaming how would you convince those on limited data plans that it's worth the overages each and every month?


    Sent from my iPhone4s using Tapatalk
    Last edited by xandermac; 02-07-12 at 05:04 PM.
    02-07-12 12:13 PM
  6. LoganSix's Avatar
    If they put BBMusic on the PlayBook, then there is another feature to think about. One of the keys to BBMusic is using BBM to share your music with your BBM friends. The new Social Contact Book on PlayBook shows what your contacts are doing on Facebook, Twitter, etc... It is possible that it will also show current/favorite music. Then you can see what your friends are listening too in BBMusic.

    I contend that RIM is aiming to replace social web sites with the PlayBook Social Contact Book and then replacing the way you listen to music, by making it social.
    02-07-12 12:27 PM
  7. nesstheraven's Avatar
    1st, kill iTunes? Really?

    2nd, think napster, amazon, your already mentioned slacker, spotify or any of the other services that haven't killed iTunes.

    3rd, your premise rests on blackberry being the only licensee? Or is there still competition in this market?


    Sent from my iPhone4s using Tapatalk
    I think there can still be competition; in the sense that myspace competes with facebook. But if every song was available (not to rent, but streaming it, and working like Slacker Radio), then why buy music.

    Plus, wifi at home (where you listen to a ton of music) would not use your dataplan on your phone.

    I use Slacker Radio all the time, and I think it is a well kept secret. If Blackberry bought it and marketed how Blackberry has every song ever recorded on your bb and playbook, that would turn a lot of people back to blackberry IMO.

    And yes, I do think the end of iTunes is nigh. I just hope it is the Blackberry that puts the nail in iTunes coffin
    02-07-12 12:51 PM
  8. palmless's Avatar
    OK. Sounds like "me too" Spotify, but with the cachet of Blackberry exclusivity, priced well below what it would cost to operate.


    And yes, I do think the end of iTunes is nigh. I just hope it is the Blackberry that puts the nail in iTunes coffin
    Wow. Not "possible", not "inevitable", but NIGH.

    Already seeing some warning signs are you? I'm not seeing them:

    http://cdn.iphoneincanada.ca/wp-cont...ings-chart.gif

    (Can't figure out how to delete the bar graph...)
    Last edited by Palmless; 02-08-12 at 08:29 PM. Reason: Ooops! Wrong chart. They all look the same, up up up...
    02-08-12 08:24 PM
  9. SCrid2000's Avatar
    Sounds like something Zune did. And we all know how well that worked for them
    Not that I wouldn't like to see itunes die.
    02-10-12 10:04 AM
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