Spotify

Posted on October 14, 2014 by hlu04

by Helen Lu

[1] Spotify’s Logo

KEY EXECUTIVES

[2] Spotify Founders- Martin Lorentzon & Daniel Ek

[3] Jeff Levick- Chief Business Officer

[4] Steve Savoca- Head of Content

[5] Ken Parks- Chief Content Officer & Managing Director USA

SPOTIFY OVERVIEW

[6] Spotify’s sleek interface layout for their multi-platform service.

Spotify is a privately-owned, digital music streaming service that provides on-demand access to tracks. It is available on multiple platforms, including computers, mobile, tablets, and home entertainment systems. Originally founded in Sweden in 2006, Spotify launched in the United States in 2011; it is now available in 58 markets. [7]

Spotify offers listeners the free model, “made possible by ads,” and the premium model for $9.99 monthly, which is ad-free, high-quality, and available offline. [8] With over 20 million songs, over 20,000 tracks added daily, and over 1.5 billion playlists, Spotify has accumulated 10 million active users and a total of 40 million active users. [9]

COMPETITORS

Rdio, Pandora, Rhapsody, Google Play Music, Beats, iTunes Radio, Music Unlimited, and Xbox Music are worthy contenders in this competitive space. Product reviews assess service quality with major factors include song catalog, user interface, support, and features. [10] Each racing for a market share, these top players in the market are making strategic ploys to stay afloat.

On November 12th, Youtube announced their own streaming service, Youtube Music Key for $9.99. It will be interesting to see how it will affect the music industry when it fully hits the market in 2015. [11]

[12] Spotify and The Echo Nest collaboration

In early March 2014, Spotify acquired The Echo Nest, a big data company to enhance the music discovery feature, forcing Rdio, Rhapsody, iHeartRadio, and Vevo to look elsewhere for a discovery algorithm. [13]

THE SPOTIFY STRATEGY

Spotify has successfully targeted college students, establishing a solid audience base and brand loyalty. With personal information confirming their status, Spotify offers students Spotify Premium for only $4.99. [13]

[13] Spotify engages their target audience: college students and 18-24 year-olds.

COLLEGE CASE STUDY

Spotify’s tenacious grasp on college students’ listening is reflected in their recently released research report of the Top 40 Musical Schools in America. The findings are a close study of the musical norms in the schools.

[14] Detailed graphs document music-genre distribution and listening spikes, showing not only what students listen to but also how they listen.

The data that Spotify is able to collect can be utilized for targeted advertising and marketing campaigns today. Moreover, with such a large following of the developing youth, Spotify is not only able to make significant advancements with the invaluable information about today, but accurate inferences about these soon-to-be adults tomorrow. [13]

#THATSONGWHEN

Spotify launched their #thatsongwhen campaign with advertising agencies Ogilvy & Mather and David to further engage their millennial base. #Thatsongwhen allows users to tie their emotional experiences to their favorite songs, to create, and to tell stories. The customization, personalization, and interactivity of a musical experience attracts and retains a young crowd. [15]

The stories are media clips that are charged with emotion, and of course, music. Don’t Go Chasing Girls is about a man’s early memory of his childhood crush that is easily triggered with TLC’s hit song, Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls. Stories and songs are updated and posted on a live feed.

AD TAKEOVER

Spotify is introducing two new advertising options for eager advertisers:

1. The dubbed Video Takeover, only available on desktops, allows brands to takeover the screen during 15-30 second advertising breaks.

2.The dubbed Sponsor Sessions forces mobile users to view a 15-30 second video on their mobile devices in order to proceed onto 30 minutes of uninterrupted streaming. [16]

McDonald’s, Universal Pictures, and Ford are just some of the major sponsors that have opted into this advertising innovation. [17]

[18] McDonald’s format and utilization of Spotify’s advertising product – Video Takeover.

SPOTIFY PARTNERSHIPS

VODAFONE

Everything is going mobile, and music is no exception. This rapid trend of playing and streaming music from a smartphone is particularly prevalent in Australia. Due to these recent findings, Vodafone Australia has partnered with Spotify to bundle in Spotify Premium for free with their monthly plan. A Spotify Premium subscription generally costs $11.99 Australian dollars each month. The exclusive offers with Spotify vary, and are known as the Red Plans. [19]

[20] Research shows that 1.5 million Australians stream music from their mobile devices.

Vodafone believes that Spotify Premium’s features complement and maximize the use of their faster network speeds, value plans, and expanding 4G network. Both the companies and the listeners are benefitting from this collaboration as the marriage of these digital services follow consumer trends and meets consumer needs. [21]

CARPLAY

Apple Carplay is an a new feature configured in select 2014 vehicles. Spotify is on board for this innovative ride as it has updated and fixed some bugs for this new multimedia system. [22] The music player allows users to access their Spotify accounts using a compatible iPhone. [23] With a built-in display to play music, Carplay is an exclusive and luxurious market; the Ferrari FF is one of the few select cars with Carplay. Several automobile manufacturers, however, are making an effort to include and support this system in the future. [24]

[24] Spotify collaborates with Apple Carplay to incorporate music services in the latest car models.

UBER

Uber is a hip taxi service, and Spotify is a hip streaming service. These two successful startups partner up for a new listening experience. Passengers can link their custom playlists to Uber vehicles for a fun ride. Although this new feature has started off in ten cities, it makes a big splash in the car service industry and the music industry. This partnership allows both companies to co-promote their respective brands and to change with the times. The service is for Spotify Premium account holders. [25]

[26] Spotify and Uber modernize the standard cab-ride as they join forces to create a new listening experience.

SPOTIFY CONTROVERSY

Taylor Swift pulled her entire catalogue from Spotify’s music database as she believes that it does not fairly compensate artists. [27] As a popular musician, her bold move and her public statements rejecting the streaming business model has made headlines for weeks. Fans and critics are responding to her decision with distaste as both parties point out that there are other viable services, such as Youtube and SoundCloud, to play her music. [28] While she recently accepted the first-ever Dick Clark Award for Excellence at the 2014 American Music Awards Ceremony, she added another snide comment jabbing at Spotify and streaming services again. [29] Jason Aldean has followed Swift’s footsteps, and pulled his new album Old Boots, New Dirt from Spotify. [30]

Spotify executive, Ek, combats this frenzy and reports that artists that use Spotify to promote their music actually sell more, and that Spotify has returned over $2 billion to music industry today. Top artists like Swift are set to project over $6 million in revenue a year. [31] Despite the financial debate and moral controversy, the Spotify team still hopes for Swift to change her mind. [32]

[33] Taylor Swift is a firm believer in the value of music, and that it should not be free. Swift has pulled her music catalogue from Spotify.

It is unlikely that many artists will join Swift’s banning of the digital streaming business, as it is the digital age. Reports confirm that streaming services grew 28% in the first half of 2014. [26] Listeners’ habits changed; artists can sink, but digital streaming services will swim.

SPOTIFY: LOOKING AHEAD

Despite the recent controversies, Spotify has achieved success with their recent collaborations; the student discount and the partnership with Vodafone have led Spotify subscriptions to increase by 42%. [28] Spotify Family Plan has launched with popular demand and proven financial success with previous discount deals. The plan allows subscribers to add four family members to their account for half the price. [34]

Spotify’s name is globally recognized, and Spotify’s services are well integrated into the new digital age. Its key strategies and partnerships keep it on the bleeding edge of the music industry.

Sources

1. Spotify’s Logo, Spotifypress.com, RT:11.29.2014

2. Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, RT: 11.29.2014

3. Jeff Levick, RT: 11.29.2014

4. Steve Savoca, Spotifypress.com, RT:11.29.2014

5. Ken Parks, Evolver.fm, RT: 11.29.2014

6. Spotify Interface Layout, RT: 11.29.2014

7. Spotify Business Information, investing.businessweek.com, RT: 11.29.2014

8. Spotify Official Website, spotify.com/us, RT: 11.29.2014

9. Spotify Press Information, spotify.com/information, RT: 11.29.2014

10. “Spotify and competitors play to their musical strengths”, usatoday.com, RT: 11.29.2014

11. “YouTube Launching Spotify-Style Paid Music Service”, TIME, RT: 11.29.2014

12. Spotify and The Echo Nest Collaboration, RT: 11.29.2014

13. “Will Spotify’s hat trick help it pull ahead of competition?”, Fortune, RT: 11.29.2014

14. How Students Listen, spotify.com, RT: 11.29.2014

15. “Spotify Ties Music to Personal Stories in Its New Ads”, adweek.com, RT: 11.29.2014

16. “Spotify Unveils Video Takeover Ad Product for Free Users”, telecompaper.com, RT: 11.29.2014

17. “Spotify is bringing video ‘takeover ads’ to its free service”, theverge.com, RT: 11.29.2014

18. Spotify Video Takeover Format, spotify.com, RT: 11.29.2014

19. “Vodafone offers postpaid customers free Spotify Premium access”, CNET, RT: 11.29.2014

20. “Spotify partners with Vodafone Australia for down under listeners”, rainnews.com, RT: 11.29.2014

21. “Vodafone Australia and Spotify join forces!”, vodafone.com, RT: 11.29.2014

22. “Spotify adds support for Apple’s CarPlay in update to iOS app”, talkingnewmedia.com, RT: 11.29.2014

23. “Spotify Adds CarPlay Support in Latest iOS Update”, macrumors.com, RT: 11.29.2014

24. “Apple CarPlay comes to Pioneer stereos as Spotify adds support”, engadget.com, RT: 11.29.2014

25. “Tuneup, redefined: You can now Spotify your Uber ride”, CNET, RT: 11.29.2014

26. Uber and Spotify Partnership, Uber.com, RT: 11.29.2014

27. “Taylor Swift is right about music, wrong about Spotify, says CEO Ek”, CNET, RT: 11.29.2014

28. “Why Taylor Swift Will Lose Her Battle With Spotify”, TIME, RT: 11.29.2014

29. “AMAs: Taylor Swift Continues Anti-Streaming-Service Stance in Dick Clark Award Speech”, hollywoodreporter.com, RT: 11.29.2014

30. “Jason Aldean Agrees with Taylor Swift, WIll Remove New Album From Spotify”, musictimes.com, RT: 11.29.2014

31. “$2 Billion and Counting”, spotify.com, RT: 11.29.2014

32. “Here’s Why Taylor Swift Pulled Her Music From Spotify”, TIME, RT: 11.29.2014

33. “Taylor Swift and the Whole Spotify Thing”, uloop.com, RT: 11.29.2014

34. “Spotify launching family plan with cheaper subscriptions for families”, theguardian.com, RT: 11.29.2014

Spotify

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Hannah Friedland

By Hannah D Friedland

[1] Spotify’s Logo

THE SPOTIFY STORY:

[6] The most updated visuals of the Spotify application on thee platforms

[2] The most updated visuals of the Spotify application on thee platforms. Users have an on-demand stream of music on their computer, mobile device, tablet, and home entertainment system.

Spotify is a music streaming service that puts users in control of 20 million licensed songs [3]. Spotify was launched in Sweden in 2008 and came to America in 2011.

Spotify is financially a private company that offers over 20,000 new songs each day from major and independent labels including EMI, Warner Music Group, Universal, & The Orchard [3]. Artists earn royalty when their music is played, and there are over 24 million active users currently in 55 markets [3].

There are two revenue streams, free, which is “powered by advertisers” and premium for $9.99 monthly with extra features including no ads, offline, and high-quality audio [3].

TEAM SPOTIFY:

[2] Spotify Founders- Daniel Ek & Martin Lorentzon

[4] Spotify Founders- Daniel Ek & Martin Lorentzon

[5] Chief Sales, Marketing, and International Growth Officer- Jeff Levick

[5] Chief Content Officer & Managing Director USA- Ken Parks

[6] Chief Content Officer & Managing Director USA- Ken Parks

[7] Head of Content- Steve Savoca

INSIDE SPOTIFY:

Social Media Merges with Music- Songs, playlists, and albums can be shared on the Spotify application through the "Send To" message option, or users can "post to feed" to their Facebook timeline, Twitter, and Tumblr within the Spotify application. ARROW

Social Media Merges with Music- Using the “send to”, or “post to feed” options users can message music to friends and post music to their Facebook timeline, Twitter, and Tumblr within the Spotify application. Source: Spotify

Spotify gives its users the option to connect with their social media Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr accounts. Users can create collaborative playlists, share music, view friends music and more which provides for ample music discovery and publicity for the company on social media platforms. There is also a private session users can activate.

Two other elements that Spotify includes are apps and Discover. While these apps add dimension to the Spotify journey, Discover is essentially a constantly updated news feed.

Discover- Spotify's "news feed" feature on the desktop application, artists are recommended, concerts nearby are posted, friends listening habits are shown all based on listening habits the user has shown. Source: Spotify

Discover- Spotify’s “news feed” feature on the desktop application. Updates with releases, playlists, artists recommendations, concerts nearby are posted, friends listening habits are shown all based on listening habits the user has shown. Source: Spotify

COMPETITORS:

Spotify is a strong contender, but it’s competing neck and neck with Rdio, Pandora, Rhapsody, Google Play Music, and Beats on price, catalogue, platforms, and features [8]. Beats Music entered the competitive on-demand music market in January [9], and is Spotify’s biggest challenger.

[10] Beats Music vs. Spotify- The two streaming services are extremely similar with the same catalogue size, the discovery element, and price.

Beats entry in the market put Spotify in “go-mode”.

SPOTIFY’S SITUATION:

Competitor streaming services are continually emerging. With more choices presented to consumers, Spotify has responded by shifting their focus to partnerships, acquisitions, customer satisfaction, and updated product development. The formula is to attract users to Spotify, engage with users, and retain them.

Partnerships

Last.fm

Last.fm is a music recommendation service. In January, Spotify and Last.fm teamed up to bring a beneficial on-demand playbar to Last.fm’s website. This makes it possible for Last.fm users to internally play the entire Spotify catalogue on Last.fm’s website [11].

The collaboration works in both companies favor. Last.fm users have a fuller experience with the power, “to play whatever you want by whoever you want directly on Last.fm” [12]. In addition, Spotify’s catalogue incorporation provides a huge presence and Last.fm users conveniently have motivation to signup for Spotify to take advantage of the essential music player.

The Last.Fm Spotify playbar at the bottom of Last.Fm’s website. Source: Lastfm.com

SoundHound

Spotify also joined forces with SoundHound for the “Add to spotify” feature on its iOS application in February. SoundHound is a popular music-recognition app, similar to Shazam. Banded together, SoundHound is now more interactive. After linking accounts, with the tap of a button users can automatically generate Spotify playlists of recognized songs without leaving SoundHound’s app [13].

Hitting the “Add to Spotify” button automatically turns songs discovered on SoundHound into a Spotify playlist. Source: SoundHound & Spotify

The mutually-beneficial relationship brings life to identified songs through Spotify playlists on SoundHoud, and the incentive to use the button will drive users to subscribe to Spotify while giving them presence on a music app [14].

Coachella

On top of that, Spotify was presented with an amazing opportunity to have presence on site at Coachella as the Official Digital Music Partner of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in California in April. The Spotify Social tent was an on-site air-conditioned tent that offered relaxation pods, chargers, a “Mosaic Photo Booth” that uses your Spotify account to generate a picture out of your most played album art, and art from artist Apex [15].

[16] The Spotify Social tent, that capped at 150, gave people an air conditioning experience filled with music, more battery power, art, and a Mosaic Photobooth that puts your face on album covers based on your Spotify listening habits.

#WeWereThere was Spotify’s digital interactive strategy at Coachella to “connect, collect, share.” Implanted in every RFID wristband was the power to capture the experience by checking in and collecting custom Spotify curated playlists. The “My Coachella Story” digital snapshot let individuals create memories of their festival concert experiences with playlists gathered [16]. This collaboration not only transformed Coachella goers into premium users, but also created a special experience and built relationships by reliving the festival on Spotify.

[15] “My Coachella Story”- an example of a digital snapshot that shoes distance traveled, the path taken, playlists, artists seen etc. To participate users needed to simply connect their wrist band with their Spotify accounts, look for check ins at the festival, use the wristband to collect playlists and then after generate their digital card and share it with family and friends.

Sprint

Lastly, Beats launched with an AT&T package family plan deal. Rumors are circulating about Spotify planning to bundle with the #3 U.S. mobile carrier, Sprint [17] in April. This partnership will give Sprint customers a free trial. Customers will be able to pay for Spotify directly through their Sprint Accounts, which will help Spotify secure a greater market share and Sprint secure more data plans. Sprint and Spotify will announce the details on April 29th at a New York Event [18].

Acquisitions

In efforts to boost the “discovery” element, Spotify acquired The Echo Nest in March [19]. The Echo Nest is a music intelligence company that examines listening behavior and makes musical recommendations. Spotify paid $100 Million, with 90% Spotify equity [20]. The Echo Nest previously powered Rdio and Rhapsody, both of which ended their deals, deeming its technology invaluable to their operations right after Spotify acquired [21]. This potentially puts Spotify in the position to take The Echo Nest away from competitors.

Combing the two companies gives The Echo Nest a bigger audience and catalog, while Spotify, now with music-discovery data, will improve recommendation’s.

Customer Satisfaction

With intentions to obtain more paying users Spotify has updated its business model. In January the company announced free music shuffling on iOS with a catch, non-premium users ads play in between every few tracks [22]. In February, Spotify added the “repeat one” feature [23]. Repeat one grants users the option to repeat a single track over and over [24]. These highly requested changes illustrate that Spotify cares about users.

Working with a college students budget, Spotify slashed the premium $9.99 monthly rate to $4.99 in March [25]. They partnered with SheerID to validate eligibility. This price change is valuable because college students represent an important key demographic in streaming use [26]. This differentiates Spotify from other streaming services like Rdio and Beats that charge $10 monthly.

Unique Product Development

Competition among streaming services leads Spotify to completely redesign its user interface layout on all platforms. Spotify rolled out a sleek modernized look on April 2^nd. This major design update was the first since its launch in 2008, and to keep current it was a smart move [27].

Spotify’s New Look Video [28]

The new dramatic, dark color scheme highlights important buttons, includes circular images for people, and features square album shapes [29]. The browse tab is revised and categorized between top lists, releases, news, and moods. “Your Music”, a collection of users saved albums, songs, and artists is a new addition [30]. The Your Music addition mimics iTunes library and it is comparable to Rdio’s “collection” feature. It helps users save, organize, and browse through their favorite music. The new layout feels unified and balanced, and should attract new users [31].

WHATS NEXT FOR SPOTIFY:

Spotify is headed in the right direction, but with downloads declining, new rival services like YouTube, Apple, and Amazon that have huge user bases are joining the streaming market [32].

Being active puts Spotify in the forefront, which looks great for Investors. It is rumored that an IPO is in Spotify’s near future. Though the company has declined all comments, a job advertisement for an “External Reporting Specialist” has been posted on their website and LinkedIn [33]. Their future looks competitive but successful.

Sources:

1. Spotify’s Logo 2014, Spotifypress.com, RT: 4/04/2014

2. Spotify’s Application on Three Platforms, Spotifyblog.com, RT: 4/01/2014

3. Spotify Press Fast Facts, Press.Spotify.com, RT: 4/01/2014

4.The Founders of Spotify, Press.Spotify.com, RT: 4/01/2014

5.Spotify’s Chief Sales, Marketing, and International Growth Officer, Press.Spotify.com, RT: 4/01/2014

6. Chief Content Officer & Managing Director USA,Press.Spotify.com, RT: 4/01/2014

7. Head of Content, Press.Spotify.com, RT: 4/01/2014

8. “And The Winner Is… Best Music On-Demand Streaming Service”, Cultofmac.com, 2/18/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

9. “Beats Music Is Here”, Beats Music Blog 1/16/2014, RT: 4/08/2014

10. “Beats Music vs. Spotify: Can Dr. Dre outmix the king of streaming”, Digital Trends, 1/27/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

11. “Last.fm Bands up with Spotify to offer on-demand tracks”, CNET, 1/29/2014, RT: 4/04/2014

12. “Did Someone Say On Demand?”, Last.fm Blog, 1/29/2014, RT: 4/04/2014

13. “SoundHound Launched “Add to Spotify”, Business Wire, 2/21/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

14. “SoundHound Now Lets You Easily Add Your Discovered Music to Your Spotify Playlist”, appdevice.com, 2/24/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

15. “Coachella here we come” Spotify News, 4/7/2014 RT: 4/14/2014

16. “Spotify’s Coachella #WeWereThere Campaign: High Tech and Sweet, Sweet Air Conditioning”, Billboard, 4/11/2014, RT: 4/14/2014

17. “Sprint and Spotify Plan to Partner Up”, recode.net, 4/11/2014, RT: 4/14/2014

18. “Spotify, Sprint Plan Music Bundle To Be Unveiled This Month”, Billboard, 4/12/2014, RT: 4/14/2014

19.“Spotify Acquires the Echo Nest”, Billboard, 3/06/2014, RT: 4/02/2014

20. “Spotify Acquired Music Tech Company The Echo Nest in A $100M Deal” , TechCrunch, 3/07/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

21. “Rhapsody Kills its Echo Nest partnership following Spotify acquisition”, Venturebeat.com, 3/21/2014, RT: 4/09/2014

22. “Spotify’s free shuffle mode arrives on iPhone”, The Verge,1/08/2014, RT: 4/02/2014

23. “Repeat One”, Spotify News Blog, 2/07/2014, RT: 4/08/2014

24. “Spotify users can now repeat the same song over and over and over again”, Hypbot, 2/10/2014, : 4/02/2014

25. “Spotify Offers 50% Student Discount”, Hypbot, 3/25/2014, RT: 4/02/2014

26. “Spotify introduces 50% discount for college students”, Los Angles Times, 3/25/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

27. “The Good, The Bad, The Less Ugly: Taking Spotify’s New Redesign For a Test Drive”, Billboard, 4/03/2014, RT: 4/04/2014

28. Spotify Paints It Black with New Look, YouTube, 4/01/2014, RT: 4/06/2014

29. “Spotify’s biggest redesign ever brings long awaited Collection view”, The Verge, 4/02/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

30. “Spotify paints it black with new look”, Spotify News, 4/02/2014, RT: 4/08/2014

31. “Spotify beautifies”, CNET, 4/02/2014 RT: 4/08/2014

32. “Spotify faces challenge from Internet giants before IPO” New York Post, 3/30/2014, RT: 4/14/2014

33. “Spotify seeks to hire U.S. filings expert as bankers eye IPO” Reuters, 2/17/2014, RT: 4/14/2014

Rdio

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Karly Brecher

By Karly Brecher

Rdio, Inc.
1550 Bryant Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

Phone: 415-763-7211
Website: Rdio.com

Company Overview

Rdio is a privately-owned online music streaming service. Skype founders, Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström launched the company in 2010. Rdio is now available in over 35 countries. The service is ad-supported but users can opt for an ad-less subscription for $9.99 per month. Rdio can be accessed via the internet, desktop client, mobile app, and some in-home entertainment services (ex: Roku, Sonos.) [1] [2]

Key Executives [3]

Anthony Bay, Chief Operating Officer

Niklas Zennström, Founder

Janus Friis, Founder

Scott Bagby, Head of Strategic and International Partnerships

Finances

Rdio is a privately owned company and does not disclose their financial information online. Assumptions about the company’s financial well-being can be concluded from news published online. Rdio laid off approximately 35 employees (1/3 of the staff) this past November. A spokesperson for the company said the offs were in order to create a more efficient cost structure and to promote a sustainable business model. This insinuated that Rdio’s finances were weak. However, in March of 2014, Spotify acquired Dhingana, an India-based music streaming service for an undisclosed amount. This indicates that Rdio is trying to expand and must be doing better financially. [4] [5]

Competitors

Paying subscribers of top streaming services. Image courtesy of Digital Music News.

Rdio is not the only streaming service fighting for domination in the United States, in fact, their market share is very small compared to competitors (but, their numbers are still growing.) Rdio has many domestic and international competitors. The graph to the left shows the number of paying users for a variety of streaming services. Rdio has less than one million paying subscribers, however, this does not include “freemium” users. These numbers can far surpass the amount of paying subscribers. Rdio’s data is not public but for a comparison, Spotify has over 6 million paying users (as of November 2013) and over 24 million total users. The “freemium” accounts are ad-supported and subsidize artist royalties. Rdio’s main competitors in the United States include Spotify, Pandora, Beats Music, Slacker, and Sirius XM [6] [7] [8]

Shazam Partnership

In 2012, Shazam, a music recognition service, partnered with Rdio to allow users to listen to Shazam’d tracks via Rdio . However, this partnership was only available in select countries. In late 2013, Rdio and Shazam announced the expansion of this service to over 29 territories including Ecuador, Guatemala, Hungary, Austria, Sweden, and many more. It is important to note the significance of this expansion because the Rdio/Shazam service is now available in countries where competitors like Spotify are not (including Canada, Chile, and Czech Republic.) [9] [10]

Mobile Integration

Tesla Motor’s in-dash touchscreen display

As streaming services become increasingly popular, more services are emerging and fighting for domination in the market (think iTunes owns the digital download market). This creates more competition between the services and they are scrambling for ways to gain users. Streaming services have been partnering with cell phone providers to increase their customer base. Beats Music partnered with AT&T for a discounted family price and Spotify announced a partnership with Sprint. However, Rdio is going a different route. After being turned down by Spotify, American car company, Tesla, announced a partnership with Rdio in Europe . Gigaom reports “…consumers will be able to play any song from Rdio’s catalog of 20 million or so with a simple voice command,” the service will be integrated in the car’s dashboard system. Tesla CEO, Elon Musk says the service will be available very soon. It is unknown whether or not Tesla will use Rdio as their default music service in the US market. Tesla currently has a partnership with Slacker Radio in the US territory. [11] [12]

Above is a photo of Tesla Motor’s in-dash touchscreen display. The Rdio client in the in-dash display will likely mirror the iPad application. This will ensure a positive and easy user experience.

Dhingana Acquisition

The Rdio lay-offs in late 2013 indicated that the company was struggling financially. However, it seems that the streaming service is doing better because they had sufficient funds (although we do not know the exact number) to purchase the Indian music streaming service: Dhingana.

Dhingana was founded in 2007 by brothers Snehal & Swapnil Schinde, and Sushil Choudhari. Dhingana primarily streams genres of Indian music boasting a catalog of over one million songs in 42 languages. Dhingana has other Indian competitors including Saavn and Gaana. Dhingana has approximately 10.5 million monthly users; the acquisition will add significant traction to Rdio’s numbers.

Smartphone sales growth.
Image courtesy of The Guardian.

Dhingana announced the acquisition on March 14, 2014 via their website and shut down the service. According to the press release, the Dhingana team will be working with Rdio to launch the service later this year. Rdio CEO, Anthony Bay, was quoted in Billboard Magazine, “India is a tremendously vibrant market for music and culture and one of the largest and most important in the world,” Bay’s strategy seems to be to expand their service in emerging markets, like India . Part of the Schinde brothers and Mr. Choudhari’s initiative at Rdio will be to expand into other emerging foreign markets.

This acquisition was a brilliant move on Rdio’s part. Recently The Guardian reported that India will pass the United States in smartphone sales this year, “India will be the country where the largest proportion of smartphones sold will go to new users,” this creates a larger market for potential streaming users. The map above shows significant smartphone growth in Brazil, Indonesia, and China; it will be interesting to see what territories Rdio will expand to next. [5] [13] [14]

Rdio Drops The Echo Nest

The Echo Nest is a music intelligence company that provides data to a variety of music industry entities. All of the competitors mentioned above (with the exception of Beats Music) use The Echo Nest to power music recommendation features on their platform. In March, Spotify announced that they acquired The Echo Nest. Following this, Rdio announced they will no longer use The Echo Nest’s service. Anthony Bay was quoted by The Verge saying: “As far as we are concerned, they were a good partner, but we have other good partners and we’ll move on… So we will stop using that source of data and use other sources.” . Rdio’s decision to unsubscribe to The Echo Nest can pan out to be either a unique, positive change to the service or, depending on the service they choose to work with, can damage the company’s reputation. [15]

Sources:

[1] Rdio | About Us RT: April 1, 2014

[2] Rdio | Apps RT: April 1, 2014

[3] Crunch Base | Executive information RT: April 1, 2014

[4] Tech Crunch | Rdio Layoffs RT: April 4, 2014

[5] Billboard | Rdio acquires Dhingana RT: April 4, 2014

[6] Digital Music News | Paid subscription numbers RT: April 4, 2014

[7] Investopedia | Definition of “Freemium” RT: April 15, 2014

[8] Spotify | Fast Facts RT: April 8, 2014

[9] Android Central | Rdio and Shazam Partnership RT: April 8, 2014

[10] Make Use Of | Rdio vs Spotify availability RT: April 8, 2014

[11] Giagaom | Rdio partners with Tesla Motors RT: April 3, 2014