Rotten Apple

As Apple kicked off it’s June 30th launch of the revamped Apple Music Service (Beats music), there were many kinks and controversies along the way. The controversy was that Apple was not planning to pay artists for the 3-month trial period of the service. Many artists spoke up against not being paid for the use of their streamed songs in the 3-month trial period. Many artists threatened Apple to pull their music from the streaming service all together. Artist and activist Taylor Swift took to Tumblr in a letter stating that she was speaking on the behalf of her fellow musicians who were hesitant to speak out against the tech giant.

Click to read more ...

Smashing the Music Industry

Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins frontman, believes that the music business model is outdated and takes advantage of artists. Corgan said, “The music business is mostly run by feckless idiots who do not subscribe to the normal tenets of capitalism which when they do, the business tends to work out well and stars tend to rise to the top, everybody benefits, but it is still a parochial business. It is run by thiefdoms way behind the times technologically.”

Click to read more ...

Music Industry Icon: Hilly Kristal

315 Bowery was never the same thanks to Hilly Kristal. Kristal changed the Punk scene in 1973 and never looked back. The place to be was Country, Bluegrass, Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers, better known as CBGB. This biker bar turned music club came to life with the likes of The Ramones, Blondie, Patti Smith, and the Talking Heads.

Click to read more ...

Tidal Wave

Jay-Z’s Tidal has made many ripples, however the splash seems to have been short lived. The March 2015 buy of Tidal has become a troubling investment for investors at the forefront. One has to ask themselves if Tidal’s business plan makes any sense in a time when consumers see very little value in purchasing music. To expect consumers to pay $9.99 for a standard streaming service and $19.99 for a high-resolution service seems pretty crazy. What’s even more crazy is that Tidal as a company has not properly marketed it’s service to the consumer. Everyone is left in the dark, maybe they are left worrying or maybe they press on to the next service. I believe if Tidal is the biggest thing since MTV, then they should have marketed it like it was.

Click to read more ...

Newbury Comics Scavenger Hunt

The Newbury Comics scavenger hunt started March 27^th and ends April 6^th. The idea of a huge scavenger hunt pre-record store day is genius. Newbury Comic’s scavenger hunt is a laundry list of tasks that one must complete to gain points; the person with the most points wins the grand prize of $500 Newbury Comics gift card. Some of the tasks are taking pictures in front of famous landmarks or a selfie at the storefront of the first Newbury comics. Other tasks are answering trivia questions and doing activities, while taking selfies.

Click to read more ...

The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From The Tree

When Apple launched iTunes in 2003, Apple addressed the consumer’s wants by giving them the choice of buying a whole digital album or they had the ability to buy a single track from the album. Apple did not start iTunes to sell music, however to sell the hardware that Apple sells, the iPod. Apple has tried to control music sales since day one to raise the demand for Apple products. In the beginning Apple’s iTunes used DRM technology to block out other competitors that sold MP3 players. This would leave consumers dependent on their iPods. In 2005 Thomas Slattery, filed a lawsuit against Apple. This lawsuit stated that Apple broke antitrust laws by using FairPlay. Any music purchased from iTunes would work only with Apple’s iPod, which froze out competitors. Apple has been a dominant force from its music sales since it’s starting point. Apple has flexed its muscles to control music distribution and deals that worked to their benefit.

In 2010 Apple’s iTunes store started see a decline in sales for the first time. It was at this time that music streaming service started to come in full swing, at this point Spotify was not even introduced to the US Market. Now the tables have turned and Apple is trying to recreate itself once again to address the consumer’s wants by giving them on demand streaming through their revamped Beats music service.

In 2014 iTunes music downloads declined by 14%, while Spotify’s subscriptions increased. Since 2011, Spotify has grown from 10 million subscribers to over 50 million subscribers. I find it funny that the iTunes split of 30/70 will come back to haunt Apple. Basically, the competitor who is stealing streams for downloads is using the same slit. Apple was once making dollar to dollar and now they’re making pennies to the dollar.

Apple, along with Beats music, has to show consumers the value of spending money on a subscription service each month. While other competitors give away freemium tiers and lower subscription fees, this is going to be a hard sell, however, not an impossible one. If anyone can introduce a creative, innovative way for consumers to stream music, it’s definitely the folks at Apple.

Contact Information

email:  jason@jasonkventura.com

website:  http://www.jasonkventura.com

Apple and Oranges

Re/Code has reported on Friday March 6, 2015 that Apple plans on having a music streaming service that will not feature a free tier. Apple wants to have a single premium only model that will leave consumers paying $9.99 a month. Others speculate that Apple will have a two-tier model. The premium model is like a buffet of all you can listen to music, while the lower $7.99 service will come with limitations.

Click to read more ...