The music industry has evolved rapidly
The effect of the internet on the music industry has created a sea change when it comes to how listeners tune in. Years ago, music aficionados became able to utilize programs like Napster of Kazaa to showcase their eclectic libraries so that other users could expand the canon of their own favorite artists.
Unlike conventional musical mediums like the radio or compact discs, commerce wasn’t a barrier when it came to exposure or indulgence. Listeners had access to songs that weren’t distributed on mainstream media, making this new era of file sharing a great tool when it came to exposing oneself to new media.
Sadly, copyright infringement laws and the power of record labels teamed up to put an end to Napster pretty promptly. Even its successors failed to weather the storm of opposition that arose from commercial interests whose barometer for success was sales instead of downloads.
Then came another wave of programs
Soon, these companies would assimilate into the .mp3 era by offering albums via online music stores like iTunes. Still, a new wave of music sourcing programs would emerge from the ashes of their fallen brothers. To this day, popular websites for torrents offer listeners a way to pirate their favorite music.
Sympathy within the industry even exists for the ideals of accessibility and exposure. For instance, My Bloody Valentines released their first album in over a decade back in 2013. The album, titled M B V, was available for a free or donation based download on the band’s website…which crashed soon after the announcement prompted web traffic well exceeding its allocated bandwidth. This was a microcosm which signified the evolution of the music industry into an era of digital listening.
Capitalizing upon that evolution has been a mission for record labels worldwide. The emergence of music streaming services is evidence of that goal. Instead of purchasing music song-by-song, record labels can profit from their copyrights by offering users a subscription in which they can pay on a monthly basis to listen to unlimited songs by their favorite artists. Pandora radio popularly pioneered this kind of app, Spotify improved it enough to become the status quo and now Apple and Google hope to enter into this arena.
Enter Streamus, a new way to stream music
Streamus is a fascinating answer to Apple’s recently unveiled music streaming service. Available via Chrome extension, the service links itself to Youtube so that users can share and discover new music. Now, the long awaited dream of being able to stream obscure versions of songs only available via YouTube has become a reality.
The personal direction of Streamus takes a different direction than its competitors. Being able to utilize user histories to expose listeners to new songs offers a feature under appreciated by competitors.
When it comes to succeeding in an ever-evolving market for music, it’s becoming apparent that personalization is a major factor. This should show any app developer that few things are as important as coming to understand a customer so that their desires can be met, resulting in a long lasting relationship that can endure the changes that any industry will invariably undergo.
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