The Promise of Music Streaming

Am I wrong?

 

The promise of music streaming services was that you would get all of the music you wanted, in one place, for one low monthly fee and no commercials.

Am I wrong?

$10 a month. No music interruptions for horrifically bad audio commercials. And everything I could possibly want to hear.

Sounded good, except that it’s not true.

More and more often, the hottest artists and albums are not available on streaming services, at least not when they are new and the topic of every music-lover’s conversations.

Adele. Drake. Taylor Swift. Kanye West. Radiohead. Prince. And that’s just the beginning.

The biggest artists can’t make money offering their new releases to streaming services.

And the streaming services can’t make money — real money — under their current business model.

Why would you subscribe to the Book of the Month Club if you couldn’t read the best new books, only classics?

This is an opportunity for Radio, for those wise enough to see it.

I understand: many, perhaps even most, listeners don’t care about this issue, but many — many — do.

Your 45 year-old mom listeners may not be angry that they can’t hear Radiohead’s “A Moon Shaped Pool” but I bet a lot of them wanted to hear all the new Adele “25” titles.

Radio: Use your advantages!

Point out the disadvantages of Spotify and Pandora and Apple Music the way they point out our over-commercialization and inane jock talk.

Use the power of your access to all of the best new music and tell the world about it.