Music, CDs, Spotify and Valuable Content

Published on by David A. Kennedy

Recently, I wrote about how I believe myself and others would pay for beautiful, efficient services on the web. I still think that’s true, and now I have a bit to add to the mix – inspired by the latest, hot online start-up, Spotify.

Yesterday, I purchased a premium account on Spotify. My wife and a good friend had raved about the service, and they both had premium accounts. I checked it out, loved it, signed up and promptly closed my free Pandora account. I did all this in about 24 hours. The whole process got me thinking:

  • I still own a bunch of CDs, but have them all in digital format, and haven’t bought a physical CD in more than a decade.
  • I have always bought my digital music through iTunes, but haven’t regularly bought music there in probably five years.
  • I listen to music all the time, and have maxed out my listening time on my free Pandora account almost every month.

Why? What made me go for Spotify so quickly? Why not just buy more iTunes music? Or go with Pandora?

The answer: valuable content. I never bought more iTunes music because even though I was getting the same product as a CD, I didn’t get something physical that translated into value. I just owned a bunch of files as zeros and ones. I wanted those linear notes, CD covers, etc. What I needed was that value.

Spotify gives me that. For $10 a month, I get access to tons of music, some that I would buy, much that I would never discover without the service and I don’t have to worry about files, storage and more. I don’t get those linear notes and CD covers, but the mass of content (music) is just as, if not more valuable.

Content is what myself and everyone else on the web really wants. How are you making your content valuable?


Tagged MusicPersonal