Copyright Law

Yahoo Pulls Its Music Subscription Service

By Copycense Editorial

“The [music subscription] services also have to overcome a conceptual hurdle with many consumers. Most music fans want something tangible when they buy songs. Subscription services, however, are like cable TV: They sell access to entertainment, not packaged goods. And like cable, they’re not easily portable, which is a real problem when it comes to playing music in a car. It would be a different matter if people were continuously connected to the Net and could hear any song they wished, anywhere, any time. But in the current circumstances, music subscriptions work best as ways to sample music ? not as a substitute for buying it.” — Jon Healey.

Jon Healey. If Yahoo can?t do it … LATimes.com. Feb. 4, 2008. Both a member of the Los Angeles Times editorial board and editor of the paper’s Bit Player blog, Healy asks whether subscription music services are a viable business model in light of Yahoo!’s announcement that it would end its subscription music service and support RealNetworks’ Rhapsody service. Since so many of us at the Cense are heavy music listeners and buyers, we can confirm Healy’s insights. Almost all of us choose to buy music on compact disc (then rip to iTunes) rather than buy music on iTunes or some other service. Not only do we get better sound quality when we buy and rip, we own something, which is important to us.

Copycense?: Incisive IP.?

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Full post as published by Copycense on February 06, 2008 (boomark / email).