Best Music App (can Spotify do that?)
In NJ, summer 2011, I witnessed a violent conversation about what is the best mobile music app. It pretty much sums up the state of mobile music streaming in 2011: Brandon: Rdio is where it’s at in music right now. Kerry: I. Don’t. Care. I love Spotify. Brandon: Name anything. I’ll play it right now. [...]
2010 Music Website Heat Map
If you’re color blind then this is going to hurt. Based on estimated traffic data from Compete, this visualization depicts web-based music consumption in the U.S. in 2010. Included are sites where music is streamed or downloaded. YouTube, SoundCloud, OurStage, Bandcamp, Grooveshark, ReverbNation, and Vevo all saw notable change in 2010.
Count Clicks To Content
Mr. Owl, How many clicks does it take to get to the rock n’ roll center of a retail mp3? Let’s find out. A One… A two-HOO…too many! Mr. Owl just BitTorrented right in because it was easier than buying it on iTunes. It took less clicks. It took less clicks. Are you testing your fans’ user experience?
You Have 10 Seconds
10 seconds to engage someone. 10 seconds to impress them. In his research for Futurehit.DNA, Jay Frank discovered an impressive trend: Shorter song intros lead to better sales. “2/3 of bestselling songs have an intro that’s less than 7 seconds.” The average intro length for Top 25 songs is 6.6 seconds. “You really have 10 seconds to engage people.”
Collaborative Consumption…P2P Cars…Access.
Rachel Botsman points out four drivers that are causing a fundamental global shift away from 20th century hyper-consumption (ownership) towards 21st century collaborative consumption (access). Sharing is “second nature” to digital natives—and it’s not just about files.
iTunes Is The 7-Eleven of Media
Mac computers rock, but I’m no apple addict. When I talk on my iPhone 3G I feel like my head is melting, and even though iTunes launches every time I sync, I’ve never purchased music on iTunes. (I have downloaded apps.) The bottom line of this microwavable disclaimer is that I’m not your average music consumer. Apple continues to create a major dependence on iTunes through their mobile products, and I don’t think that anything is going to “kill” iTunes without a war. iTunes is the 7-Eleven of media—
