A few weeks ago I enthused about Pandora, a personalised Internet radio station based around your favourite artists and similar music. At any time, you have the option to purchase the track you’re listening to, from either iTunes or Amazon.
So why didn’t I subscribe when my free trial expired? In short, I can’t stand the feeling that I’m being ripped off.
I don’t know what the financial arrangements are between Pandora and the music business, but I suspect our subscription fees are used partially to pay licensing fees for use of the recordings. If so, this is totally the wrong way around: the music biz should be paying Pandora, which is essentially a billboard for their products. This expense would comfortably be recouped via the iTunes/Amazon purchases.
Pandora is essentially an update of the listening posts you find in your local record store. I can’t help thinking that the music industry has sidestepped yet another opportunity to maintain its relevance in the Internet age.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Juan // Oct 4, 2005 at 14:12
I agree with your comment, as the industry needs to change the way it approaches music distribution. Until then, I decided to subscribe to avoid commercials and discover cool music.
2 the case against .NET » Blog Archive » Pandora’s back in the box // Nov 10, 2005 at 23:31
[...] I wrote in October about why I was reluctantly giving up Pandora, the personalised Internet music streaming service. [...]