For a brave brand somewhere, Spotify is an open goal
By Andrew Harrison
It will be no surprise to anyone who has ever read the music magazine I write for, or looked at its website or followed it on Twitter, that hardcore music fans love Spotify to the point where it bores everyone else around them. Endless music on tap in a conscience-warming legal environment, an interface so slick and simple it shames all the other streaming services, and the occasional C.o.I. advert to convince you that you’re actually paying (with a small sliver of your attention) for what you’re listening to… it appears to be the very model of Culture Karma in action. Do something loveable and people will love you for it.
The truth is that Spotify is far from a business slam-dunk and may not survive its current breakout stage from word-of-mouth hit to the mass market. The founders are cagey about how many people are migrating from the ad-funded platform to the £9.99 a month commercial-free Premium tier – it’s estimated to be fewer than ten per cent of users. Founder Daniel Ek admits that a purely ad-funded future for Spotify is not feasible. Meanwhile it’s estimated (very roughly) that it costs Spotify 1p in publishing and mechanical royalties alone to stream each song, per play, which doesn’t sound like much until you realise that the service has at least 5 million “freemium” users averaging over 70 hours’ use a month each. The figures are dizzying. Surely Spotify needs to wean us off freemium and onto premium as fast as it can?
Well, yes, but where the hell are the brands? The ones with deep pockets, the ones who swear blind that they are committed to music, its strongest supporters – the ones who banner up every music festival until you feel you’re at a telecoms or drinks industry trade fair? Spotify would appear to be an open goal for a smart Culture Karma move by one of these entities. “Premium, ad-free Spotify for everyone – brought to you this month by [[YOUR BRAND NAME HERE]].”
The case would appear to be a strong one. There is a massive audience to be converted and a clear and present need, specifically to stop that bloody advert for Robbie Williams’ Reality Killed The Video Star from interrupting your playback of Mogwai or Fairport Convention every three songs. (I actually don’t believe that Spotify use sophisticated technology to target you with ads you’ll like. I think they zero in mercilessly with ads you’ll actively detest, to drive you towards that sanity-saving tenner a month tier.)
There’s also a strong possibility that if a brand committed to giving everyone a month of free Spotify, it would “stick” in the way that yet another badging of yet another festival, or yet another on-bottle ticket giveaway, just doesn’t. Give people something they will genuinely appreciate and who knows, maybe the relationship will extend beyond the usual transactional knee-trembler and become something longer and deeper. You’re not going for more data capture and eyeballs, you’re going for Culture Karma.
The case against? As is so often the case, it would not so much be an objection to the idea itself as the inconvenient fact that “we’re doing something else right now”. Brands have been knee-deep in music for a decade now and realised some time ago that simply repeating “we love music!” to a disinterested audience solves very little. Dreaming of a double-bubble on music sales and data throughput, telecoms put their energies into trying – and failing – to own mobile music delivery. But oh dear, Spotify Mobile blows that out of the water and is a steal at £9.99 a month. (And isn’t it strange how something that’s expensive when tethered to a computer immediately feels like a bargain when hooked to a mobile?) Meanwhile drinks brands have their festivals, tours and pop-up nights. It’s going to take a brave person to argue for a game-changer that’s simple, scalable and based not on complicated, client-baffling mechanics but on an established – and super-hot – offering. A move that’s pure Culture Karma.
Any volunteers?
(Full disclosure: No, I don’t get paid by Spotify. It just looks that way)
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by David Whittam and shedali, Mat M. Mat M said: Culture Karma blog by Andrew Harrison about Spotify (promise it's a new angle) http://tinyurl.com/yerv65w [...]
Tweets that mention For a brave brand somewhere, Spotify is an open goal « The Culture Karma Blog -- Topsy.com
November 10, 2009 at 12:19 am
I just think it’s too expensive. No, of course a tenner a month isn’t much. But my bank account is creaking under the weight of tenner-a-month standing orders as it is. Look after the pennies, as me nan used to say.
If a month of the entire Internet can be had for little more than a tenner, is a month’s Spotify really worth as much? Is it really worth two Word magazines? Or a DVD of a Dr Phibes movie? Or a hefty trade paperback? Every month – drip, drip, drip?
As for it seeming cheap as a phone add-on, yes and no. Yes, Spotify is hugely impressive, but if you consider that other, equally astonishing, toys (hi, Google Earth!) are free or cost one pound something as a one-off payment, it no longer seems so much of a steal when you’re browsing at the Apps Store.
If they’d priced it at a fiver I’d be in there like a shot. I’ll no doubt succumb eventually, but for now I’m still holding off. And that should be cause for concern for Roberta & Co., because if not even I am fully convinced, how can less committed pop pickers be expected to take the plunge?
Archie Valparaiso
November 10, 2009 at 10:31 am
What a excellent post! I did a of blogging for dummies over on one of the CPA Marketing forums and I believed it was too simple for them, but the quantity of emails I got asking questions just like what you addressed was unbelievable. As young people today we have grown up with computers, but it’s easy to forget that even people just a a couple of years older have not! Really good post!
Matthew C. Kriner
November 22, 2009 at 5:28 am
OMG enjoyed reading your post. I added your rss to my blogreader.
DrubreDit
November 30, 2009 at 3:08 pm