Multiple music streaming options welcome, but big players offer virtually identical catalogues
There’s so much apparent choice online for music lovers it could paralyse some of us - so how can subscribers, and providers, distinguish one plan from the next?
This winter, hip-hop frontiersman Chance the Rapper made music history when he earned seven Grammy nominations for a release that is not available for purchase.
The Chicago artist issued his Coloring Book as a stream. That’s it. You couldn’t buy it if you wanted to.
His feat was the most recent indication of yet another seismic shift in online music retail. From instant downloads to all-you-can-stream plans, the state of digital music consumption has been in flux. Whether it receives trophies or not on February 12, Coloring Book, with its nominations, portends a new norm.
Streaming music on audio and video platforms now represents 38 per cent of total audio consumption in the US, according to Nielsen Music. That’s a jump from 23 per cent in 2014.
Eventually the big players – Spotify, Apple and Tidal – would like to do for music what the likes of Netlfix, Hulu and Amazon Prime did for TV, only there’s a catch: They offer virtually identical catalogues. Coloring Book, for instance, is on Apple Music, Tidal, Google Music, Spotify, iHeartRadio and Deezer.
Constant rumours of consolidation are coming to pass. Recently, US phone carrier Sprint announced the purchase of a 33 per cent stake in the Jay Z-owned Tidal, and Web radio innovator Pandora has unveiled its much-delayed intention to enter the market with an on-demand plan of its own.