Digital Audio Insider -- the economics of music and other digital content

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Digital Audio Insider is David Harrell's blog about the economics of music and other digital content. I write from the perspective of a musican who has self-released four albums with the indie rock band the Layaways.

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April 08, 2011

Cloudy Logic
by David Harrell

After last week's announcement of Amazon's Cloud Drive and Cloud Player, several digital music commentators wrote that storing music in the cloud might hamper subscriptions to music streaming services -- and maybe even result in an increase in illegal downloads from P2P platforms. While it's not an unreasonable conclusion that some consumers will prefer streaming their own music collections from the cloud over paying for subscription services (and that some of those online collections will include music that was illegally downloaded), I doubt that cloud storage is a cause for alarm when it comes to music subscriptions.

Music subscription services are, without a doubt, an incredible value proposition. They provide access to literally millions of tracks for as little as $5 a month (That's what I'm paying for my "computer only" MOG subscription, mobile phone access brings the price to $10 a month). Yet music fans have yet to embrace them, on a large scale, as a substitute for owning music. From what I've read, their appeal (so far) is mostly to voracious listeners who want easy access to the immense music catalogs they offer.

While many of these current subscribers have large music collections, it seems unlikely that having access to their libraries via the cloud would diminish the appeal of a music subscription. Even the largest private digital music collection pales in comparison to the catalogs of Rhapsody, Napster, MOG, and Spotify.

And commercial cloud storage won't be free -- my iTunes library would cost $100 a year to store on Amazon's Cloud Drive and I've ripped just half of my CD collection to mp3. Indeed, for these music fans, it seems more likely that a music subscription would discourage cloud storage, not the other way around. (Though I personally want both -- all of my digital music in the cloud AND access to the entire catalog of a subscription service.)

It remains to be seen if music subscriptions will ever take off -- maybe the U.S. launch of Spotify will be the best test of the viability of the subscription model. But if the public continues to snub subscriptions, I won't be blaming music lockers.

What do you think -- does the prospect of cloud storage make subscription services less appealing?

tags: digital music music subscriptions Spotify Napster Rhapsody MOG Amazon Cloud Drive Amazon Cloud Player AMZN

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THE LAYAWAYS

Out Now -- "Maybe Next Year" -- The New Holiday Album:

"This is a sweet treat, deliciously musical without being overbaked for mass media consumption." -- Hyperbolium

"Perfect listening to accompany whatever holiday preparations you may be making today." -- Bag of Songs

O Christmas Tree - free mp3 lyrics and song details
Away In A Manger - free mp3

Download from eMusic, iTunes, Amazon MP3, or Bandcamp. Listen to free streams at Last.fm.

"...about as melodic and hooky as indie pop can get." -- Absolute Powerpop

"Their laid-back, '60s era sounds are absolutely delightening." -- 3hive

"...melodic, garage-influenced shoegaze." -- RCRD LBL

Where The Conversation Ends - free mp3
January - free mp3
Keep It To Yourself - free mp3

Download from eMusic, iTunes, Amazon MP3, or CD Baby, stream it at Last.fm or Napster.

"The Layaways make fine indie pop. Hushed vocals interweave with understated buzzing guitars. The whole LP is a revelation from the start." -- Lost Music

"Catchy Guided by Voices-like rockers who lay it on sweetly and sincerely, just like Lionel Richie." -- WRUV Radio

Silence - free mp3 lyrics and song details
The Long Night - free mp3

Download from eMusic, Amazon MP3, or iTunes, stream it at Last.fm, Napster, or Rhapsody.

"These are songs that you want to take home with you, curl up with, hold them close -- and pray that they are still with you when you wake up." -- The Big Takeover

Let Me In - free mp3
Ocean Blue - free mp3

Download from eMusic, Amazon MP3, or iTunes, stream it at Last.fm, Napster, or Rhapsody.

More Layaways downloads:

the layaways website