Back on January 31, Beats Music launched, a streaming music
service that may very well become Spotify’s biggest competitor going forward.
This is significant because Spotify’s status almost gave it a monopoly of sorts
in the streaming service market. It is also significant because Beats Music,
while not necessarily wildly different than Spotify in terms of its purpose, is
taking some intriguing risks that could end up making or breaking the service
going forward. Beats Electronics is
mostly known for their headphones that have dominated the high-quality
headphone market for a few years. Beats Music is headed by co-founder Jimmy
Iovine (the other co-founder being Dr. Dre) and Trent Reznor (a musician known
for his work with Nine Inch Nails) as its chief creative mind.
In terms of its interface, it is very sleek and
user-friendly, but the main goal of Beats Music that separates it from Spotify
is to create a sense of discovery in the listener. The service utilizes an
algorithm specifically designed to recommend songs or artists the listener
might be interested in. While many services use recommendations, from personal
experience none have been as effective or seamless as those found in Beats
Music are. Curation is of high importance, with Beats Music guiding
the listener through recommended songs and playlists by popular musicians,
celebrities, and others, which change in real time depending on what that
famous person might be interested in. If one is a fan of Trent Reznor and is
inspired by his music, he/she can listen to what inspires him to make it.
Bringing in these high-profile figures also serves to give Beats Music a better
chance of catching up to Spotify just due to visibility and influence. Beats
Music also uses a very unique program called the Sentence, which is a fun tool
that lets the listener create a playlist for whatever he/she wants in terms of
said listener’s mood or what he/she is doing at the moment (it can get oddly
specific, to rather comedic effect).
What I’d say is its biggest risk is its refusal to allow a
free plan like that of Spotify (you can use Spotify free, but with the caveat
of having to listen to advertisements after a certain amount of songs). The
service is $10 a month, and its creators are sticking by that number going
forward. It’s a gamble because many people utilize Spotify’s free plan, and to
convince people to spend money for something they can get free elsewhere can be
difficult. Beats Music, however, is convinced that it offers a better overall
product and experience than Spotify. What’s also interesting is that it has
teamed up with AT&T to offer a family plan, allowing up to five people to
use the service at one time for $15 a month.
While I have used it and enjoyed it, I still use Spotify
more often, perhaps because of how long I’ve been using it (familiarity with
the interface helps). At this point I’d say Beats Music still has some
technical bugs to work through, and its music library, while large, still isn’t
at Spotify’s level. However, these
things can be improved, and I’m interested in whether or not Beats Music will
succeed. Early signs indicate that it will, with over 70% of those
who used the free trial switching to the paid service once it finished, and
over 1000 paid subscribers signing up a day for the first month of Beats
Music’s existence. That is good news for the streaming music market, and Beats
Music’s emphasis on discovery and curation are two that I wish Spotify will
improve on in the future if I am to continue using the service.
