to have and to hoard, part two

18 May, 2009 • posts i've written • 3 comments

I thought it pertinent to follow up to my earlier post on music collecting with the news of Napster’s newest offering.

Napster is taking a page from Microsoft’s playbook (specifically their Zune pass) by offering 5 DRM free mp3 downloads per month along with unlimited streaming for $5/month. The Zune pass is $15/month and 10 mp3s. In essence, Napster (now owned by Best Buy) is offering free streaming along with the purchase of 5 mp3s. It’s quite a tempting offer.

It’s interesting to think that all of these services: iTunes, Napster, Microsoft, and iMeem have all had to revise their models to ensure users could walk away with actual mp3s. The have-to-have-it-in-my-hand model trumps even the best anything-I-want-anywhere-I-want-it model.

UPDATE: I’m totally wrong!

Ha, about an hour after posting this, I received Bob Lefsetz’s latest diatribe… all about Napster and their new offering, “MySpace inured listeners to streaming.  YouTube seconded the effort.  How many clips consist of just the song?  While rights holders were debating the future, it was already happening.  Mind-sets have changed.  Ownership is HISTORY!” Bob predicts that single sales will ultimately dive, and streaming will be the only way to monetize music. He’s probably right on that one, but I still question the idea that ownership is history – users seem to be challenging that assertion left and right.

What do you think? Will ownership be required in most paid models to entice users?