1. johnenglish's Avatar
    I like RIM and BB, but $5/month 50 songs that you can only listen to on your BlackBerry and Playbook? Yeah, I think I'll pass.
    08-20-11 07:43 PM
  2. missing_K-W's Avatar
    I'm sure this is only the beginning of some very cool music services!
    08-20-11 08:22 PM
  3. Skeevecr's Avatar
    As I wrote yesterday, I don�t think a mini-subscription service is a terrible idea. Yes, standard subscription services offer much more bang for the buck, but they have yet to take the world by storm. And while people say they want unlimited music, they generally end up listening to a very small number of songs, over and over.
    While plenty of people do tend to only listen to a smaller number of songs, with an unlimited service they have the option of changing what they listen to when the mood takes them, 50 songs is only 2-3 hours of music which is too low an amount for a paid service.

    The service as it stands is just too dependent on you having a lot of bbm contacts with music you would want to listen to as otherwise it is overpriced and understocked, which would seem a flawed model since most people probably have a lot less bbm contacts now than they used to.


    And if RIM can integrate billing through the carriers, so its users can sign up directly on their phones without having to take out a credit card, even better. This won�t save the company, but I don�t see how it hurts it.
    I think the only potential harm is if this service doesn't match up to alternatives that are available it will add to the perception of blackberry launching half-baked products.
    08-21-11 08:51 AM
  4. allengeorge's Avatar
    Yeah, I just don't see the rationale for this service. For $3 I can get unlimited monthly streaming from Last.FM (mind you, I have to pay for bandwidth on a mobile). From what I've read no one has really been able to explain the rationale either, which is a really bad sign for RIM. I really think RIM should have worked with carriers to offer some "all-you-can-eat" streaming + BB media plans - just like the ones MetroPCS and Rhapsody put together.
    08-21-11 12:09 PM
  5. Blacklac's Avatar
    while i may not understand it yet, this limited idea is better than nothing. something to grow on.
    Last edited by Blacklac; 08-21-11 at 12:50 PM.
    08-21-11 12:47 PM
  6. _StephenBB81's Avatar
    Yeah, I just don't see the rationale for this service. For $3 I can get unlimited monthly streaming from Last.FM (mind you, I have to pay for bandwidth on a mobile). From what I've read no one has really been able to explain the rationale either, which is a really bad sign for RIM. I really think RIM should have worked with carriers to offer some "all-you-can-eat" streaming + BB media plans - just like the ones MetroPCS and Rhapsody put together.

    Everyone is going off of Rumours we don't know exactly how the service will play out.
    Carrier Billing, could be fantastic for this,
    IF they have a good library of music, and people can change out their songs at least once a month, then $5 month to never need iTunes and to work in Canada would be good for me. especially if it is Carrier billing since then I get to write it off on my taxes
    08-21-11 12:49 PM
  7. joker1524's Avatar
    RIM is stepping up...eventhough i wont be using a BB by the end of the week...i still have the playbook and i'm hoping the best for RIM
    08-22-11 04:13 AM
  8. allengeorge's Avatar
    Sure, I'm commenting on rumors, but I do not think that this service as described will be successful. Fortunately, it'll be easy for this to be verified At any rate, I'm glad RIM is finally starting to take a look at its moribund media strategy.
    08-22-11 08:29 AM
  9. johnenglish's Avatar
    It doesn't make sense to me as described. Why pay $5 a month for 50 songs when I can just use a pay as you go type plan with iTunes or Amazon and download DRM free music that'll work on any device? Yes I can get access to the songs that other BBM contacts have but that assumes they're paying for the service too and have the same taste in music as I do.

    I don't see any of my friends who use iTunes or Amazon and have BlackBerrys switching over to this. I'm hoping there's more to it than this, otherwise I don't see it being very successful.
    Last edited by JohnEnglish; 08-23-11 at 12:31 AM.
    08-22-11 10:01 PM
  10. Rootbrian's Avatar
    DbD crew will be investigating in DRM-laden music. They always have creative ways of telling them to drop out DRM.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    08-22-11 11:29 PM
  11. johnenglish's Avatar
    BlackBerry maker cues up BBM Music | Technology | guardian.co.uk

    BBM Music went on trial on Thursday in the UK, US and Canada, and is expected to roll out to 18 countries later this year. For $4.99 a month – UK prices have yet to be confirmed – BBM users will have access to 50 songs.

    Users can build up their playlist by sharing with friends, and have access to all 50 songs on a friend's profile. Once a month, customers can change 25 of the songs on their list.

    The music, licensed from Universal Music Group, Sony, Warner Music Group and EMI, is essentially rented – it can be downloaded onto phones and listened to when the handset is offline, but cannot be transferred to other devices.
    I really don't see this being too successful with all these restrictions on it.
    08-25-11 09:16 AM
  12. Rootbrian's Avatar
    BlackBerry maker cues up BBM Music | Technology | guardian.co.uk



    I really don't see this being too successful with all these restrictions on it.
    #sigh DRM. It's defective by design.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    08-25-11 11:01 AM
  13. katiepea's Avatar
    from gizmodo today:

    BlackBerry’s BBM Music Is The Dumbest Music Service I’ve Ever Heard Of
    RIM probably heard that one of the big things in tech right now is offering a music locker service because they just announced BBM Music. Unfortunately, it's the worst music locker service in the world: you pay $5 a month for 50 songs.

    The $5/month fee lets you keep 50 songs in your personal profile, which, of course, is disgustingly little. Laughably tiny. Size, in this case, is everything. And don't even think about swapping songs too much as you're only allowed to change up to 25 songs per month too. What in the world? What kind of dimwitted suit would use this thing?

    Luckily, BBM Music has a neat-ish social aspect to it, it let's you listen to the music that your BBM friends have loaded up to their library. It's mildly cool, you can even build playlists with their songs and I guess it rewards popularity as the more BBM friends you have, the more music you can access. Which sounds sort of fun in a vacuum but is a pretty tough sell IRL as everyone I know is ditching their old Blackberries for modern phones (and services) that can store 20,000 songs on the cloud. Man, this BBM Music sounds like it would've killed in the early 2000s though!
    08-25-11 03:03 PM
  14. Blacklac's Avatar
    The lack of BBM friends reason is pretty bogus.

    Start a thread in the social forum or the new BBM Music forum and have a group dedicated (In your BBM) to music sharing only and you instantly max the service out for $4.99. This however, takes out some of the whole "coolness" of sharing as most would be strangers, but I have no idea what all the little details are. Frankly, I really think this service needs the ability to cache all 50 of YOUR OWN songs to use offline, as long as they are in your list. I think THAT might add value for $4.99 to compete with Slacker or other streaming services. Frankly, this isn't going to compete with iTunes or anywhere else you buy tunes to own.

    I am so sick of buying music and not listening to it ever again after 6 months. Streaming just makes A LOT more sense to me.

    I'm curious to know all the little details. I don't think this is as bad as people make it out to be.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    08-25-11 03:48 PM
  15. limh5's Avatar
    from gizmodo today:

    BlackBerry�s BBM Music Is The Dumbest Music Service I�ve Ever Heard Of
    RIM probably heard that one of the big things in tech right now is offering a music locker service because they just announced BBM Music. Unfortunately, it's the worst music locker service in the world: you pay $5 a month for 50 songs.
    The Gizmodo author is clearly not a BBM user, so they wouldn't appreciate it. I don't expect a non-BlackBerry user to jump ship just for BBM Music. However, it gives BlackBerry users the choice to use this service (and I'm sure some will).

    2 important points:

    1) The sharing feature is new versus existing services. It is also different (and an advantage) over the most popular service (iTunes).

    2) BBM Music is another boost for the BBM platform. BBM is more than an app now, it's a PLATFORM. BBM Music is the latest in the platform.

    The whole story is here: Investing Blog: RIM Takes Shot at iTunes With BBM Music
    08-25-11 08:00 PM
  16. johnenglish's Avatar
    Frankly, this isn't going to compete with iTunes or anywhere else you buy tunes to own.
    To me that's the problem. Why sign up to this service if you're already using iTunes, Amazon, or something similiar?

    I guess the sharing factor might appeal to some, but enough to pay $5 a month for? That's assuming that lots of your BBM contacts also subscribe to it and share your taste in music.
    08-25-11 11:34 PM
  17. belfastdispatcher's Avatar
    To me that's the problem. Why sign up to this service if you're already using iTunes, Amazon, or something similiar?

    I guess the sharing factor might appeal to some, but enough to pay $5 a month for? That's assuming that lots of your BBM contacts also subscribe to it and share your taste in music.
    Why do you think a person has to give up one service to sign up for this one? Every year there's a new generation ready to sign up for one or another.

    And how long do you think before websites and forums will pop up with people posting their pin and music interest? There's already a lot of them.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    08-26-11 08:01 AM
  18. johnenglish's Avatar
    Why do you think a person has to give up one service to sign up for this one? Every year there's a new generation ready to sign up for one or another.

    And how long do you think before websites and forums will pop up with people posting their pin and music interest? There's already a lot of them.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    If someone is not using any music then I can see them using this but if you're already using iTunes or Amazon why pay another $5 a month for this. Especially since the main users will people be teenagers and people in their early 20s and they're one of the hardest hit groups by the economic slowdown.
    08-26-11 08:55 AM
  19. belfastdispatcher's Avatar
    If someone is not using any music then I can see them using this but if you're already using iTunes or Amazon why pay another $5 a month for this. Especially since the main users will people be teenagers and people in their early 20s and they're one of the hardest hit groups by the economic slowdown.
    In UK you can buy a new blackberry on prepay for a little over �100, bis costs �5, another �5 for music and sounds like a winner already.

    I lent a blackberry to my niece once and within a day she had 37 bbm friends.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    08-26-11 09:09 AM
  20. Blacklac's Avatar
    To me that's the problem. Why sign up to this service if you're already using iTunes, Amazon, or something similiar?

    I guess the sharing factor might appeal to some, but enough to pay $5 a month for? That's assuming that lots of your BBM contacts also subscribe to it and share your taste in music.
    There are a lot of people who dont like paying $1.29 per song for the latest hit just to not listen to it again after 6 months. Streaming makes sense for a lot of people, and thats what this is. Streaming.

    Frankly, depending on the music catalog, this may be better than Slacker. I loved Slacker at first, but I now realize just how limited their selection is for each genre.
    08-26-11 12:02 PM
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