Around the Net
Sound Salvation: Rdio Service Enters Crowded Streaming Music Market
- ReadWriteWeb et al., Tuesday, August 3, 2010 2:32 PM
"Music subscription services have been around for years, but Rhapsody, Napster and Zune Pass have yet to make a dent with music lovers," writes USAToday. However, "A new breed to of subscription services think they've got the problems licked, with unlimited access to music, via mobile phones."
"Rdio is notable for its social network integration, with its ability to connect your account to Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm," writes ReadWriteWeb. "It also syncs your iTunes music to its database to create an online collection of songs."
Under the headline, "Spotify Who? Rdio Launches..." TechCrunch writes: "The public launch of Rdio in the US and Canada is bad news for European music startup Spotify, which hasn't managed to make it Stateside yet, despite all its oft-expressed hopes and dreams."
"One advantage Rdio has over Spotify is its emphasis on social media-like tech to 'discover' new artists, with an 'artist radio' system which offers users music similar to that of the artist they're currently listening to," reports Fast Company. "The other advantage it has is that it's actually launched: Its executives managed to successfully convince the American music biz to license it the rights to stream music over the Net -- something neither Spotify or Apple seems to have managed."
From Spotify and MOG to Rhapsody and Thumbplay, Rdio certainly isn't at a loss for competition. However, conspicuously absent from the music streaming fray is Apple, which acquired stream-technology provider LaLa last December.
As CNet reports: "Apple is telling executives at the four top labels that if Apple offers any cloud-music features within the next few months, they will likely be 'modest in scope' and not include the kind of functionality that Apple outlined in meetings with the labels, such as storing users' music on its servers." (CNet suggests that the issues could stem from miscommunications and even turbulence between Apple and LaLa's core management.)
Rdio, which was co-founded and funded by Skype, KaZaA and Joost creators Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, launched in private beta last month with 5 million songs and support from the four top music labels. Since then, it's added independent labels and aggregators, including IODA, IRIS, Finetunes, INgrooves and The Orchard.
