Pandora (P -6.9%) trades lower after BTIG's Richard Greenfield, who has long maintained a...

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GaltMachine Comments (924)
 
"Songza has playlists for everything and makes it outrageously easy to find the right one at the right time. It's 100% free, with no audio advertisements and no monthly listening limit. Stream thousands of original playlists made by music experts. Peruse a curated playlist library organized by activity, genre, decade, mood, and culture. Collect your favorite playlists and share them via Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail."

I actually really like the sound of that (nasty pun) app. I will give it a try. Currently I stream Jango on my Android and it is also really good.
12 Jun 2012, 11:04 AM Reply Like

skibimamex Comments (277)
 
it seems that we will have largely conditioned ourselves to mostly expect music to be free (well at least we will only pay with our eye-balls). this makes it hard to imagine how paid subscription services like the Sirius XM's of the world will prosper, particulalry as the car (something like 80% of the listening hours) gets further invaded by the IP-apps. Of course the cellular guys with the "dumb pipes" will be the beneficiaries of this mobile broadband consumption and laughing to the bank with their usage-based pricing paradigm.
12 Jun 2012, 11:12 AM Reply Like

GaltMachine Comments (924)
 
skibi,

What happens to Itunes when people start to peak over the garden wall?

Why get locked into a restrictive, limited use product for stuff you supposedly "own" when you can stream endless music in your car for "free"?

The half-life of business models is decreasing at an ever increasing rate.
12 Jun 2012, 03:26 PM Reply Like

skibimamex Comments (277)
 
I would actually prefer both, as I can only stream when I am in coverage, while I also have mp3's from my iTunes (converted from Apple format) stored on my Android phone in case I'm in bad coverage area.

Then again, it may sound strange, but I even will listen to the radio some times in the car because I actually miss the DJ bantering nonsense occasionally, and I can consume that randomly and passively, by simply pushing the up or down button until I "discover" something that I am willing to subject myself to. There is something to be said for pure laziness.
12 Jun 2012, 03:45 PM Reply Like

GaltMachine Comments (924)
 
skibi,

Agreed.

Really depends upon the nature of your daily travel. In my case, I am never without 4G so I never experience the problem of non-coverage. Like you I also have a library of MP3's stored on my car for those just in case moments.

The biggest epiphany I had when I upgraded to my Android phone was the ubiquity of "free" music - it literally blew me away as I had no idea. I suspect I am not the only one and once we get widespread adoption of smartphones, the subscription based services death spiral will accelerate.

And yes, I still listen to the radio a lot and in particular Talk Radio being the right-wing, anti- "...." (insert slur of your choice), nut-job that I happen to be :) Now with IheartRadio even this model is subject to disruption. The idea of "local" radio is so passe.
12 Jun 2012, 04:20 PM Reply Like

skibimamex Comments (277)
 
but all these different forms of "free", I am largey paying with my attention span --as they all try to monetize my listenership somehow, mostly via audio ads. it's just that pandora the ad frequency nowhere near what typical terrestrial radio is. even on sirius XM, many stations (particularly talk) have ad content as well. i find that pandora, depending upon how you define the "station" can be repetitive, but so is a top 40 radio station, and Sirius XM may curate it for me with more robust selection, it still ends up to what is the value proposition of whether I am getting value for the price I am paying. I actually find the comedy channels (although sometimes it is not appopriate with kids or guest in the car) and the sports (such as NFL or MLB) as pretty valuable which difficult for me to find/duplicate from elsewhere -- at least in a car, that is.

But I agree with you (I think) that a subscription-based service, particularly as Pandora, Spotify, and iTunes with Apple's "Siri" attack the dashboard of a car with automatic integration/interconne... it's going to pressure SIRI the company... Just my opinon.

BTW, the real epiphany for me is how well 3G/4G coverage has evolved, which coupled with some improvements in buffering capability at the receiver device level, can result in a pretty deccent level of service from streaming services.
15 Jun 2012, 03:15 PM Reply Like