Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Audio, iPod Family, iTS, Peripherals, iTunes
XM Radio asking interesting questions
XM Satellite Radio emailed me, one of their "selected XM Subscribers," a little survey today. I thought I'd share some of it with you to give you something to speculate and pontificate about. So here are the juicy parts:Suppose that XM Radio were to offer you a service that would allow you to "lease" downloaded music onto your XM Radio, and create playlists.
WHAT IT IS
- Using a new XM Digital Music Player, this service provides effortless creation of your own music library from both your satellite radio service and/or an online music download service containing over 1 million songs.
- Music can be stored on your XM Digital Music Player, download to your computer or transferred to your MP3 player, and played for an unlimited amount of time—as long as you continue your monthly subscription.
- You can create playlists (combining XM content + downloaded tracks), organize them and play as often as you like.
- If you cancel your monthly subscription, the music you stored on XM or in other locations will no longer be accessible unless you resubscribe.
HOW IT WORKS
- Only works when using the playback mode -- When you hear a song that you like, simply press the save button to store the song into your leased memory. No need to worry about when you press the store button… the song will save from the beginning.
- Or search the online music library for specific songs.
- Amount of music you can store in your leased memory is dependant upon the specific XM Digital Music Player you purchase (typically 10 - 30 hours).
Assume that you could trade in your old XM receiver for free and get the new XM Digital Music Recorder. Now also assume that this new feature would cost an additional $9.95 per month, on top of your regular monthly fee.
Now assume that this new feature would still cost you an additional $9.95 per month, on top of your regular monthly fee. But in order to get the XM Digital Music Recorder, you must purchase it for approximately $199 (you keep your old receiver)
How likely would you be to purchase this new receiver & sign up for this additional feature?
My opinion?
XM + iTunes + iPod = Good Thing. I'm all for it. Sign me up. Invite TiVo along too. We'll have a party.
Tying it all to a $9.95 subscription which I have to pay in addition to the $12.99 I already pay (I actually pay less on a multi-year pre-paid plan)? Not so good. I'll pay $5.99 tops and I want at least the option to own my music forever, not just while I'm an XM subscriber. Charge me $.50 or $.99 per track for the songs I decide I want to keep after I leave XM behind for whatever reason. Otherwise I'll just be looking for ways to undermine your DRM (and trust me, it won't be difficult). And buying a new receiver versus trading in my current one? I'd have to know more about the receiver to say for sure, but $199 would be reasonable for a receiver done right.
Discuss amongst yourselves...
Now assume that this new feature would still cost you an additional $9.95 per month, on top of your regular monthly fee. But in order to get the XM Digital Music Recorder, you must purchase it for approximately $199 (you keep your old receiver)
How likely would you be to purchase this new receiver & sign up for this additional feature?
My opinion?
XM + iTunes + iPod = Good Thing. I'm all for it. Sign me up. Invite TiVo along too. We'll have a party.
Tying it all to a $9.95 subscription which I have to pay in addition to the $12.99 I already pay (I actually pay less on a multi-year pre-paid plan)? Not so good. I'll pay $5.99 tops and I want at least the option to own my music forever, not just while I'm an XM subscriber. Charge me $.50 or $.99 per track for the songs I decide I want to keep after I leave XM behind for whatever reason. Otherwise I'll just be looking for ways to undermine your DRM (and trust me, it won't be difficult). And buying a new receiver versus trading in my current one? I'd have to know more about the receiver to say for sure, but $199 would be reasonable for a receiver done right.
Discuss amongst yourselves...
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jonathan Marks said 10:53AM on 7-03-2005
I believe the future of music is indeed subscription, though I think most people won't pay more than 5 bucks a month for it. Mind you, if Nokia added 5 bucks to the price of their phones, they could afford to license most of music on the planet. Wonder when they will wake up to that?
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Andrew Kaufmann said 4:19PM on 6-16-2005
This service sounds great -- but a touch pricey. Bring the cost down a little, and that sounds amazing.
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Jason said 4:19PM on 6-16-2005
I tend to disagree with comment #1. I have tried subscription services and personally can't stand them. My musical tastes are pretty out of alignment with the mainstream and having someone else keep my music collection for me just doesn't work. They hardly ever have songs I'm looking for and I just don't like the thought of having everything taken away from you if you don't pay your monthly fee.
I am an XM subscriber though and I don't necessarily think this is a bad idea. I may be interested in it just so I can cheaply grab music on the fly, but for my main audio collection, I don't think I could ever go subscription.
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tex said 6:41PM on 11-10-2005
to add on to the end of #3, especially when the quality of the files are not the greatest. for example the itms, ill use it for buying the occasional rock song, but for more serious pieces and classical music i dont even think about using it.
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_victor said 4:19PM on 6-16-2005
A few months ago I finally got around to listening to "The Road Ahead" by Billy G.
He kept going over subscription models for music... A nickel every time you listen to a song. $5 a month. Etc. It hurt my brain. I don't want to whip out an accounting ledger each time I want to groove man!
So yeah, I think subscriptions are wack. For some it would make sense, but not for me. Last night my wife spent nearly $30 on iTMS to fill up her iPod mini. She is a total technophobe, and my personal litmus test for technology solutions. If she's "buying to own" her music, I'd say it's a popular bet. Oh wait, what's that most popular online music store out there?
My music plays for sure indeed...
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Robert Knight said 4:19PM on 6-16-2005
Call me a purist...I just can't consider "leasing" my music. Just because the RIAA can't sell CDs at $18.99 doesn't mean we should give our right to ownership of our music collections. Without sounding to cliche' I feel like my music collection is one of the only material posessions I have that possibly "defines" who I am. I don't think it should ever be rented from a corporation. I get my music legally and it would be a sad day if any part of my collection were held for monthly ransom.
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Jeff said 4:19PM on 6-16-2005
I own over 800 CDs that are collecting dust and don't match with the online services. I would actually rather rent the ability to tap into a vast library of music instead of just owning bits and pieces of what's available. It gives me more options and keeps my music library fresh. I want a flat all-you-can-hear model for subscriptions.
I've been toying with the idea of Napster-to-go or Yahoo and this would be giving me the best of both worlds (my XM and my favorite songs). I'd pay the $10/month for this easy.
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