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Google Following in Apple's Footsteps With Songza Purchase

Google is getting what they pay for.

We all know $15M is cheap for buying 5M users or ~10M ears to hear Google's targeted ads. That's it. Google just wants those ears. Songza has no pull in the music industry and doesn't really care for the talent.

$3B for Beats is expensive, but I'm sure it will be worth it in the long run. Why? It's not the doo-doo headphones. It's the pull Beats Electronics/Music has in the music industry and we all know iTunes is having some problems getting streaming up and running. This just accelerates the process.
 
Beats worth way more than Songza

HobeSoundDarryl said:
Beats: $3B for 250K subscribers, poorly rated (but high margin) headphones and 2 leaders
Songza: $15M for 5M subscribers, no headphones and non-famous talent

Beats 250K are paying subscribers while Songza's 5M are free (ad supported). Looking forward, does the subscription for sale trump the free* subscription?

Hmmm
Click to expand...

Beats also brings in over $1B in revenue each year and has been growing very nicely. It'll be profitable from day one. Not to mention brand strength: Beats controls premium headphone market -- 60% of sales over $200.
 
Apple bought a music service that nobody uses or cares about. Google followed. The only way to have a music service sound sketchier than "Songza" would be if they called it "Songzilla". Of course it already exists. http://www.songzilla.com
 
I know it might be all in my head, but it REALLY seems like Google is trying to BE apple...
 
Rettun1 said:
I know it might be all in my head, but it REALLY seems like Google is trying to BE apple...
Click to expand...

Not nearly as much as Microsoft is trying to be Google. If Google was trying to be Apple, they'd do us all a favor and kill off Google+ like Apple killed off Ping.
 
fredaroony said:
Dr Dre? lol yeah a real score.
Click to expand...

Far more Richer and, more powerful than you will be in a billion life times. Just saying.

And now that Apple owns Beats, you will complain and still buy Apple products as if it never happened. Don't kid yourself.
 
AngerDanger said:
Yeah, Google copied third party keyboards, widgets, notification center, control center. They are unscrupulous.

:p:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I'm neither a fanboy for either company, but those are all minute smartphone OS features, a sliver of Google's company overall. Pursuing the purchase of a similar company is a little bit different than an OS tweak.
 
I will never understand the rampant fanboy-ism behind any company. Everyone copies everyone. If one side has a good idea why shouldn't the other side copy them? They're businesses; they only care about you insofar as the money you are willing to spend on them. If you aren't willing or able to spend any money on them, then you mean nothing to them.
 
Last edited:
This obsession with who did what first.

I'm almost surprised to not read something like "following Apple CEO's footsteps, Google's CEO decided to jog today" or some such thing.
 
That's perfect alignment for the purchasers.

Apple | Beats | monthly subscription
Google | Songza | free, ad-supported
 
Love the way MR marginalized Songza with its commentary "Like Beats Music, which had 250,000 subscribers in May three months after launching, Songza is relatively small at five million users compared to competitors like iTunes Radio, Pandora, and Spotify.

250K and 5M is a pretty wide margin. True it's not iTunes level or Pandora - but just looking at the purchase of the two companies - they are quite different both in model and subscriber base.

Also - the headline is pure click bait. First you have to assume that Google wasn't already working on a deal with Songza. I'm not sure anyone here can verify who was "following" who. Regardless - it doesn't matter. Of course we'll never see a headline suggested that one company ALSO does something. It must be followed, copied, etc...
 
"Beast had 250,000 subscribers 3 months after launch".

Let's take a look at this, shall we?

Beats and ATT strike a deal where they offer 6 months of free subscription service and then the customer is responsible for canceling if they so choose to (it was added to their ATT bill).

ATT has over 100,000,000 customers.

Not difficult to attain 250,000 subscribers in three months when it's free for the first six months and offered in every single ATT corporate store and to an extent third party resellers.
 
Michael Goff said:
This obsession with who did what first.

I'm almost surprised to not read something like "following Apple CEO's footsteps, Google's CEO decided to jog today" or some such thing.
Click to expand...

So true. All these companies steal from each other. No one is innocent here.
 
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