Just yesterday Billy Corgan said musical artists are consistently told that “they’re not worth anything”. But what does that mean exactly?
Well, Rdio has decided that 750 songs are worth $3.99.
Rdio has just rolled out Select, a new pricing tier. Rdio Select allows users to choose up to 25 songs per day for offline listening. The oldest songs will automatically be replaced when new ones are added. It also includes ad-free radio stations with unlimited skips. All this costs just $3.99 a month.
Keep in mind that the major labels have substantial equity stakes in the streaming service.
Nina Ulloa covers breaking news, tech, and more: @nine_u
It’s 25 songs at any one time, not 25 songs per day.
right… you can replace those 25 songs once a day
You can replace the songs as often as you want.
Your statement “Well, Rdio has decided that 750 songs are worth $3.99” doesn’t make sense.
I’d say this “not making sense” thing is an ongoing trend in Paul’s two reporters.
According to the Buzzfeed-Interview with the Rdio CEO Nina is correct:
“…and 2) daily access to 25 songs of your choosing. Subscribers will be able to download the 25 songs and replace some or all (or none) of them each day, so long as the number doesn’t exceed 25.”
More accurately, it decided that a certain package of songs made available in specific limited ways to the consumer is properly priced to maximize revenue for Rdio at $3.99 per month.
But I think it’s terrific that they are experimenting with different bundling, price points, etc – as long as the owner of the song has the right to opt in/out.
On another note, letting third party services decide what music is “worth” is stupid. The only way to get a correct answer on what music is worth is to find out how much someone is willing to pay for it – a thing is worth exactly what people are willing to pay for it, no more and no less. You want to know how much your song is worth? You need to find out from your audience, period. Any other answer is almost certainly wrong.
Sarah
“More accurately, it decided that a certain package of songs made available in specific limited ways to the consumer is properly priced to maximize revenue for Rdio at $3.99 per month.”
Don’t be so cynical. That price is determined by a lot of things, not just a desire to maximize Rdio’s revenue. Just some of the many other factors include: a view towards growing Rdio’s business (which is different than simply maximizing revenue, over a certain period), what consumers would likely be willing to pay (see below), negotiations with supplier record companies (and possibly music publishers), etc.
Sarah
“On another note, letting third party services decide what music is “worth” is stupid. The only way to get a correct answer on what music is worth is to find out how much someone is willing to pay for it – a thing is worth exactly what people are willing to pay for it, no more and no less. You want to know how much your song is worth? You need to find out from your audience, period. Any other answer is almost certainly wrong.”
This is a really uninformed view/statement. A third party service can NEVER “decide” what music is worth. They have absolutely no pricing power over the basic input. Even under a statutory system, the price is set by a tribunal or judge – not the service.
Of COURSE the market ultimately shows what consumers are generally willing to pay for music (not just a single song, in this instance, more typically catalogs of many recordings, of many songs) – and that reflects the “value” of the music, in the market.
All the service can do is try to find that price point, on a business case that makes sense, and acquire as much of that market as possible.
That’s what she said.
I don’t think that’s what she said, at all.
She said that third party services can decide what music is “worth” – and letting them do that is stupid.
Thinking that third party services can decide that is stupid.
Also, you not getting that is really, stupid.
MWU you have a tendency to use condescending attacks at best and vitriolic rhetoric at worst when commenting on DMN. Even when you agree with the basic premise of another persons statement or argument
Perhaps something in your past has made you such a reactionary person.
Try to take a deep breath and remind yourself nobody likes a smartass know it all
Dear Sigmund:
You incorrectly assume several things.
I’m not here to make friends or establish relationships.
There’s also nothing in my past that causes me to be reactionary.
It is this forum the elicits the reactions. The endless, at best uninformed and often entirely and intentionally misleading posts (and articles!).
I have no illusions that anyone here might actually listen to what I occasionally have to offer. I can only hope that perhaps one or two do.
Perhaps you should try to actually figure out what’s going on here, and remind yourself that this is merely an internet forum, one that is unfortunately, incredibly tilted and populated almost entirely by people who have absolutely no clue what they are talking about (Sarah is NOT among those, BTW) – but a profound willingness to display their ignorance, regardless.
“I have no illusions that anyone here might actually listen to what I occasionally have to offer. I can only hope that perhaps one or two do.”
MWU, maybe more than one or two readers might listen to what you have to offer if you weren’t so condescending and vitriolic.
So I’m confused. Does this allow for on-demand streaming through the web player or are you forced to download the 25 songs? And if so, is on-demand streaming restricted to 25 songs?
They talk about how their free service is a radio service while their premium is the full blown service and this is somewhere in the middle. Yet I can stream on-demand on my free account. So I’m further confused.
What is the basis for the claim that the major labels have a substantial equity stake in Rdio? A quick search suggests that the service is owned by the founders of Skype, with a minority holding by a media company called Cumulus. I didn’t find any mention of holdings by the major labels. But I am open to correction.
amateur reporting on this site day after day. fact checking is a dead art
Too many songs. Give people a flat 300 plays a month for 4.99 or 700 plays a month for 9.99. Musicians will make a cent per stream, which is decent, and the rest goes to the streaming company.
If everyone does this, and there’s even a modicum of recognition that infringement is a crime, then music will be back in business in a big and FAIR way.
Looks like users will still be forced to listen to advertisements on their website. That will kill this plan for many.
Rdio is trying so hard they continue to miss the basics.
With 7400 subscribers, Rdio isn’t trying very hard AT ALL.