Downloadable music business: Rent, lease or sell?
Found a good review of the current business models in online music stores … well, pricing models at least, noting some of the problems that are keeping them busy, like (shop) software complexity, procurement pricing and gaping holes in song catalogs.
a lot has changed in the online music business since Apple opened its wildly successful dollar-a-song iTunes Music Store in 2003. In that time, Apple’s catalog has grown to nearly 1.5 million songs from 200,000, Apple has sold 500 million songs [at 99 cents each], and it has been joined by similar stores run by Microsoft, Yahoo, Sony, Real Networks, MusicMatch, Dell and even Wal-Mart Stores.
[…]
[Now] “a dollar a song” is no longer the only game in town. In an effort to exploit the popularity of music downloads and still make money, the music stores have begun to tinker with the formula.
Tinkering sounds a lot like experimenting and optimizing to me …
One alternative pricing scheme is the subscription plan that allows unlimited downloads in the subscription period. The concept: instead of buying songs one at a time, pay a monthly fee for the usage rights to the library, offering one big advantage:
these rental-music outfits are highly conducive to exploring and discovering new music.
and yes, clearly:
the business of downloading music is still in its fumbling, bumbling infancy
more at the International Herald Tribune
