Subscription definitely makes sense for some people's listening habits, but not mine. Like many things in life, one size does *not* fit all.
Remember the old offers of 12 CDs/cassettes/records for only 1¢? Yes, it sounded like a great deal, but it was basically a variation on the current subscription model. They hook you with the idea, and then you find yourself locked into a long-term contract paying crappy prices for back catalog albums. I know very few people from that era that were satsified with those offers by the time they finished.
Consumers remember things like that.
Modern consumers are fatigued by the number of monthly fees in their lives. The adults among you should just take a moment to consider the number of monthly payments you make each and every month -- mortgage/rent, utilities, credit cards, cellphones, cable TV, internet access, TiVo service, fitness clubs, MMORPGs, and who knows what else. I'd guess that the average adult consumer has at least 3 or 4 more monthly fees than they had a generation ago.
In that climate, it's nice to be able to buy songs one at a time, for a dollar each. Or splurge, and spend $10 on an album. Even if you end up paying more in the long run (or listening to less music), it's nice to avoid yet another monthly fee, and make your decisions on a per-purchase basis. And if you ever miss a payment, you don't lose *all* of your music.
The record companies have always been eager to push the subscription model. In their ideal world, every consumer in the world would pay a standard monthly fee for their entire lives. (It took the persuasion of Steve Jobs to give consumers any alternative to subscriptions at all.)
Companies love monthly subscriptions, but most consumers hate them.
I'd love to see data from the PlaysForSure music stores that offer both single-song purchases and subscriptions. What percentage of *their* consumers choose subscriptions? Of course, that data would have to take into account all of the songs purchased from eMusic.com (the #2 online store behind iTunes) and ripped from newly-purchased CDs with the primary intent of playing the songs on a PlaysForSure compatible music player.
"I'm a college student looking for a new laptop, but almost all of my media I receive digitally. I'm looking for a laptop, not a netbook, without an optical drive, and budget sensitive. The optical drive will just be a waste of space, when I can have thinner laptop. What's out there?"
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Subscription definitely makes sense for some people's listening habits, but not mine. Like many things in life, one size does *not* fit all.
Remember the old offers of 12 CDs/cassettes/records for only 1¢? Yes, it sounded like a great deal, but it was basically a variation on the current subscription model. They hook you with the idea, and then you find yourself locked into a long-term contract paying crappy prices for back catalog albums. I know very few people from that era that were satsified with those offers by the time they finished.
Consumers remember things like that.
Modern consumers are fatigued by the number of monthly fees in their lives. The adults among you should just take a moment to consider the number of monthly payments you make each and every month -- mortgage/rent, utilities, credit cards, cellphones, cable TV, internet access, TiVo service, fitness clubs, MMORPGs, and who knows what else. I'd guess that the average adult consumer has at least 3 or 4 more monthly fees than they had a generation ago.
In that climate, it's nice to be able to buy songs one at a time, for a dollar each. Or splurge, and spend $10 on an album. Even if you end up paying more in the long run (or listening to less music), it's nice to avoid yet another monthly fee, and make your decisions on a per-purchase basis. And if you ever miss a payment, you don't lose *all* of your music.
The record companies have always been eager to push the subscription model. In their ideal world, every consumer in the world would pay a standard monthly fee for their entire lives. (It took the persuasion of Steve Jobs to give consumers any alternative to subscriptions at all.)
Companies love monthly subscriptions, but most consumers hate them.
I'd love to see data from the PlaysForSure music stores that offer both single-song purchases and subscriptions. What percentage of *their* consumers choose subscriptions? Of course, that data would have to take into account all of the songs purchased from eMusic.com (the #2 online store behind iTunes) and ripped from newly-purchased CDs with the primary intent of playing the songs on a PlaysForSure compatible music player.
Subscription music = DRM for LIFE!