Apple Working on Pandora-Like Music Service? [Updated]

[iChrist]

With iMessage, Apple bypassed carrier data plans for text messaging. People love streaming music, but it's a data hog. I wonder if this is a sort of iMessage for music, again bypassing carrier data and going directly through Apple's servers. That way people wouldn't have to worry about how much music they stream. For a lot of iPhone users, this could be a big deal.

If this keeps up, Apple will pretty much be their own carrier without technically being one.

lol what?? Apple will make their own 4g network just for music, or are you confused. iMessage uses data, not texts. Welcome to earth.

 

[Major.Robto]

I hope it can pick music decently and alow free itunes streaming, because i herd pandora can be stupid and sujust things that are not the same gerna or are just inaproiate

 

[EbookReader]

The current music subscription scene in the USA:

#1: Rhapsody with over 1 million paying subscribers
#2: Muve Music with around 700,000 paying subscribers (WILL GROW A LOT****)
#3: Spotify with around 650,000 paying subscribers


Muve Music is from Cricket Wireless (the first prepaid carrier to offer the iphone in the USA). Cricket bundle unlimited music downloads like unlimited text to all their Android phones starting September 2nd, 2012.

$50: unlimited music downloads, unlimited talk, text and 1GB of data
$60: unlimited music downloads, unlimited talk, text and 2.5 GB of data
$70: unlimited music downloads, unlimited talk, text and 5GB of data

Billboard estimates that Muve Music will be #1 in a few months overtaking Rhapsody. It could be at around 2 million paying subscribers by the end of 2013.

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/indu...s-makes-muve-music-available-1007904522.story

Nevertheless, given the rate of new-customer acquisition, Muve Music can expect to add hundreds of thousands of new subscribers by the end year and should exceed 2 million subscribers by the summer of 2013.

Rhapsody is currently the largest subscription service in the U.S. with over 1 million subscribers (another out-of-date figure). Spotify has 4 million subscribers around the world. Deezer has 1.5 million paying subscribers in numerous countries. Aspiro Music's WiMP has 350,000 subscribers and many more users through its partnerships with ISPs and telecoms in Europe.

The kicker is that Muve Music appears to be planning an international expansion that would grow its subscriber figures even more. Although Cricket Wireless is a U.S.-based wireless carrier, Muve Music can license its service to firms in foreign markets.

"This is the first time any carrier has put music in all their plans the way voicemail is in all their plans," Jeff Toig, Senior Vice President, Muve Music, tells Billboard.biz.

 

[EbookReader]

I have done some thinking and I believe the biggest threat to Pandora is not Apple. It's Amazon. (though Pandora stock did drop 17% yesterday on the Apple news...ouch).

Amazon can offers ad-free internet radio that currently cost $36 a year from Pandora ($3 a month).

In exchange, Amazon get customer loyalty.

Each dollar spend on Amazon = 1 reward point. Earn enough points and redeem these points for ad-free internet radio.

 

[tblrsa]

I´m not the biggest fan of streaming content for private use because I like to "own" my music, but I can see use in an commercial environment like a Lounge Bar, Club, Cafe or so.

Commercial Streaming is not possible with Spotify to date as far as I know. Now there is some potential wasted for sure, because this Service offers a lot of great Jazz Music. You could keep this running in a bar all night long, if you would be allowed to.

You hear me, Apple? This might be your chance if you market this baby the right way.

 

[mrxak]

Something nobody else has mentioned yet, I can imagine a scenario in which Apple works out some kind of customized Apple Radio service to turn free ad-based streams into direct music sales on iTMS, then goes to the television producers and says "hey, this can work, look at our radio service" and starts giving us free ad-based a la carte television service on the Apple TV set top box. Stream any show you like on demand from any network, free and ad-supported, and if you want you can buy the show straight from the iTunes store at any time to avoid the ads and keep it forever. Apple Radio could very well be a test case.

 

[pandamonia]

No.

By your logic, Spotify, Rdio, and all these other music services shouldn't exist because all they did was take what Pandora had and changed it up to make it different/better.

According to Apple. Thats exactly what you get sued for.

 

[MacDav]

Flame me all you want... but where are all of the Apple fanatics who always claim that Apple innovates and everyone else copies? Sounds like Apple is thinking about copying a music delivery model that someone else pioneered.

Oh No... It looks like you caught Apple red-handed... I guess their days are numbered now..

1. This is a rumor, could be true or not.
2. The idea of renting or leasing music is not something that is patentable.
3. If and when this does happen you can get all excited and repost.