Abstract
This chapter presents the detailed process of innovation involved in the evolution of digital music services. It describes the trials and errors that digital music firms experienced in trying to find a commercially viable business model in the digital era. This chapter is composed of four parts: (1) an early history of the digital music service building process after Napster was closed down, (2) iTunes’ achievements and limitations, (3) YouTube and Last.fm’s attempts to valorise digital music and their limitations and (4) the decline of the anticipated P2P technology, and the growth of streaming services has emerged as a new form of digital music consumption platform.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Recording Industry Association of America, et al. v. Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc., 180 F.3d at 1076.
- 2.
- 3.
A non-profit organisation established in 1998 in the UK to represent the independent record labels’ interests. The American Association of Independent Music (“A2IM”) is a sister organisation in the USA.
- 4.
- 5.
Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief and Damages ||2,10, Viacom Int’l, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc., No. 1:08-cv-02103 (LLS), 2007 WL 775611 (S.D.N.Y. 13 March 2007).
- 6.
- 7.
Google introduced paid services with Google Play in 2013, and YouTubeRed in 2015. Google Play Music featuring podcast streaming and online music locker and YouTubeRed is a subscription-based music service enabling subscribers to listen to music without the interruption of the advertisements and data charges. Despite the vast user base, the number of paid users even when subscribers of the two services combined still is far behind its market leaders such as Spotify and Apple Music (Gensler 2017).
- 8.
Piracy is briefly mentioned in IFPI (2017) report to discuss the changing climate of digital music business in China where piracy is declining with the increasing growth of the legal music business.
- 9.
Samuel (2014) distinguishes the history of recorded music into four phases grouped by the unique features of each phase. Phase I (up to 1983) is Physical Analogue with cassettes, LPs, singles and 8-tracks; Phase II (1984–2003) is Physical Digital with CDs; moving into the “New World of Music”, Phase III (2004–2007) is Online Downloads, i.e. downloads from the Internet; and Phase IV (2008 onwards) is Online Streaming.
- 10.
Marshall (2015) groups current digital music services into three types: streaming radio (webcasting), locker services and on-demand streaming.
- 11.
The four companies were chosen based Mulligan (2017a)’s streaming market share analysis.
- 12.
A detailed analysis of Spotify’s business development is discussed in Chapter 5.
References
Aguiar, L. 2017. Let the Music Play? Free Streaming and Its Effects on Digital Music Consumption. Information Economics and Policy 41: 1–14.
Aguiar, L., and J. Waldfogel. 2015. Streaming Reaches Flood Stage: Does Spotify Stimulate or Depress Music Sales? Working Paper No. 21653, National Bureau of Economic Research.
Akester, P. 2005. Copyright and the P2P Challenge. European Intellectual Property Review 27 (3): 106.
Apple Press. 2007. Apple Unveils Higher Quality DRM-Free Music on the iTunes Store [online]. Apple Press. Available from https://www.apple.com/uk/pr/library/2007/04/02Apple-Unveils-Higher-Quality-DRM-Free-Music-on-the-iTunes-Store.html. Accessed 2 Aug 2014.
Apple Press. 2009. Changes Coming to the iTunes Store [online]. Apple Press Info. Available from https://www.apple.com/uk/pr/library/2009/01/06Changes-Coming-to-the-iTunes-Store.html. Accessed 2 Aug 2014.
Arditi, D. 2014. iTunes: Breaking Barriers and Building Walls. Popular Music and Society 37 (4): 408–424.
Bakker, P. 2005. File-Sharing—Fight, Ignore or Compete: Paid Download Services vs. P2P-Networks. Telematics and Informatics 22 (1–2): 41–55.
BBC News. 2003. Website Offers New View of Music. BBC, March 27.
BBC News. 2009. Last.fm to Charge for Streaming. BBC, March 25.
Bell, K. 2014. Spotify Now Generates More Royalties Than iTunes In Europe [online]. Business Insider. Available from http://uk.businessinsider.com/spotify-royalties-itunes-europe-2014-11 Accessed 6 July 2018.
Benkler, Y. 2006. The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Blankenhorn, D. 2006. Dana Blankenhorn: How Much Further Can Apple Go? [online]. Available from http://www.danablankenhorn.com/2006/12/how_much_furthe.html. Accessed 7 Aug 2014.
Breen, J.C. 2007. YouTube or YouLose: Can YouTube Survive a Copyright Infringement Lawsuit? Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal 16 (1): 151–182.
Burgess, J. 2009. YouTube: Online Video and Participatory Culture. Cambridge: Polity.
Buskirk, E.V. 2008. Free Music Boosts Last.fm’s Traffic 58 Percent [online]. Wired. Available from http://www.wired.com/2008/02/free-music-boos/. Accessed 10 Feb 2016.
Christman, E. 2014. IMPALA Files Complaint Against YouTube with European Commission [online]. Billboard. Available from http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/global/6141020/impala-files-complaint-against-youtube-with-european-commission. Accessed 25 July 2014.
Craft, K.L. 2001. The Webcasting Music Revolution Is Ready to Begin, as Soon as We Figure Out the Copyright Law: The Story of the Music Industry at War with Itself. Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal 24: 1.
Cummings, A.S. 2010. From Monopoly to Intellectual Property: Music Piracy and the Remaking of American Copyright, 1909–1971. The Journal of American History 97 (3): 659–681.
Delaney, K.J., and E. Smith. 2006. YouTube Model Is Compromise Over Copyrights. Wall Street Journal, September 19.
Delchin, R.J. 2004. Musical Copyright Law: Past, Present and Future of Online Music Distribution. Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal 22: 343.
DeVoss, D.N., and J.E. Porter. 2006. Why Napster Matters to Writing: Filesharing as a New Ethic of Digital Delivery. Computers and Composition: An International Journal for Teachers of Writing 23 (2): 178–210.
Drahos, P. 2002. Information Feudalism: Who Owns the Knowledge Economy? London: Earthscan.
Dredge, S. 2014. Musician Zoe Keating Reveals iTunes, Spotify and YouTube Payouts for 2013. The Guardian, February 24.
Dredge, S., 2018. What do smart speakers like Amazon Echo, Google Home and Apple HomePod mean for music? Medium. Available from https://medium.com/@stuartdredge/what-do-smart-speakers-like-amazon-echo-google-home-and-apple-homepod-mean-for-music-5da4589dbdc6.
First Kiss. 2014. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpbDHxCV29A.
Fitzpatrick, A. 2016. Streaming Showdown: Amazon Music Unlimited vs. Spotify [online]. Time. Available from http://time.com/4533923/amazon-music-unlimited-spotify/. Accessed 5 Feb 2018.
Flanagan, A. 2014. YouTube Re-negotiating with Indies Following Outcry [online]. Billboard. Available from http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/6150292/youtube-re-negotiating-with-indies-following-outcry. Accessed 12 July 2014.
Fred von Lohmann ‘Copyright and Innovation Policy’. 2012. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd4BprytFFk.
Gardner, E. 2014a. Viacom, Google Settle Long-Running YouTube Copyright Lawsuit [online]. The Hollywood Reporter. Available from http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/viacom-google-settle-long-running-689291. Accessed 7 Aug 2014.
Gardner, E. 2014b. What Viacom Has to Show for Seven Years of Pursuing YouTube [online]. Billboard. Available from http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/legal-and-management/5937673/what-viacom-has-to-show-for-seven-years-of-pursuing. Accessed 16 July 2014.
Gensler, A. 2017. Lyor Cohen on the Streaming Business, Combining YouTube Red and Google Play, and SoundCloud’s ‘Sad Experience’ [online]. Billboard. Available from http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7881753/lyor-cohen-streaming-business-youtube-red-google-play-soundcloud. Accessed 31 Oct 2017.
Goodell, J. 2003. Steve Jobs: Rolling Stone’s 2003 Interview [online]. Rolling Stone. Available from http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/steve-jobs-rolling-stones-2003-interview-20111006. Accessed 31 July 2014.
Google. 2006. Google to Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion in Stock [online]. Google News. Available from http://googlepress.blogspot.co.uk/2006/10/google-to-acquire-youtube-for-165_09.html. Accessed 10 Feb 2016.
Grossman, L. 2006. You—Yes, You—Are TIME’s Person of the Year. Time.
Helft, M., and G. Fabrikant. 2007. WhoseTube? Viacom Sues Google Over Video Clips. The New York Times, March 14.
Hern, A. 2016. Amazon Launches Spotify and Apple Music Competitor [online]. The Guardian. Available from http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/12/amazon-music-unlimited-launch-spotify-apple-streaming-competitor-echo. Accessed 5 Feb 2018.
Hiatt, B. 2002. Which Online Music Service Is Worth Paying for? [online]. Entertainment Weekly. Available from http://ew.com/article/2002/08/28/which-online-music-service-worth-paying/. Accessed 16 Apr 2018.
Hill, B. 2018. The Digital Songstream: Mastering the World of Digital Music (Paperback)—Routledge [online]. Routledge.com. Available from https://www.routledge.com/The-Digital-Songstream-Mastering-the-World-of-Digital-Music/Hill/p/book/9780415942034. Accessed 17 Apr 2018.
Holton, K. 2007. Warner Music Announces Last.fm Content Deal [online]. Reuters. Available from http://uk.reuters.com/article/industry-warner-lastfm-dc-idUKL0662451720070207. Accessed 10 Feb 2016.
Hopkins, J. 2006. Surprise! There’s a Third YouTube Co-founder [online]. USA Today. Available from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-10-11-youtube-karim_x.htm?csp=34. Accessed 28 Feb 2016.
Hormann, K.C. 2009. The Death of the DMCA? How Viacom v. Youtube May Define the Future of Digital Content. Houston Law Review 46 (4): 1345–1377.
IFPI. 2015. Digital Music Report 2015: Charting the Path to Sustainable Growth. Available from http://www.ifpi.org/downloads/Digital-Music-Report-2015.pdf.
IFPI. 2017. IFPI Global Music Report 2017: Annual State of the Industry. Available from http://www.ifpi.org/news/IFPI-GLOBAL-MUSIC-REPORT-2017.
IFPI. 2018. Global Music Report 2015: Annual State of the Industry. Available from http://www.ifpi.org/downloads/GMR2018.pdf.
Jarrett, K. 2008. Beyond Broadcast YourselfTM: The Future of Youtube. Media International Australia 126 (1): 132–144.
Jenkins, H. 2006. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press.
Jeremy Fry—Celtics Fan Dancing to Bon Jovi Living on a Prayer at a Celtics Game. 2009. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOHkRk00iI8.
JK Wedding Entrance Dance. 2009. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0.
Jobs, S. 2007. Apple—Thoughts on Music [online]. Available from http://web.archive.org/web/20080517114107/; http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic. Accessed 31 July 2014.
Kiss, J. 2007. Last.fm Fetches $280m. The Guardian, May, 30.
Knopper, S. 2009. Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age. New York: Free Press.
Koh, B., B.P.S. Murthi, and S. Raghunathan. 2014. Shifting Demand: Online Music Piracy, Physical Music Sales, and Digital Music Sales. Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce 24 (4): 366–387.
Lane, D. 2014. The Top 10 Most Streamed Songs and Artists of All Time Revealed! [online]. Available from http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-top-10-most-streamed-songs-and-artists-of-all-time-revealed-3107/. Accessed 24 July 2014.
Lane, M.A. 2011. ‘Interactive Services’ and the Future of Internet Radio Broadcasts. Alabama Law Review 62: 459.
Last.fm Blog. 2008. Free the Music [online]. Last.fm Blog. Available from http://blog.last.fm/2008/01/23/free-the-music. Accessed 10 Feb 2016.
Last.fm Blog. 2009. Last.fm Radio Announcement [online]. Available from http://blog.last.fm/2009/03/24/lastfm-radio-announcement. Accessed 11 Feb 2016.
Last.fm Blog. 2010. April 12 Site Update—Track Page Beta, Streaming Changes—Feedback and Ideas [online]. Last.fm. Available from http://www.last.fm/forum/21717/_/617074. Accessed 11 Feb 2016.
Leeds, J. 2006. Warner Music Makes Licensing Deal with YouTube [online]. New York Times. Available from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/business/media/19tube.html. Accessed 28 Feb 2016.
Levy, N.N. 2000. Method to Their Madness: The Secure Digital Music Initiative, a Law and Economics Perspective. Virginia Journal of Law and Technology 5: 1.
Levy, S. 2006. The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness. New York: Simon and Schuster.
von Lohmann, F. 2006. Thoughts on Google, YouTube [online]. Electronic Frontier Foundation. Available from https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2006/10/thoughts-google-youtube. Accessed 10 Feb 2016.
Marshall, L. 2015. ‘Let’s Keep Music Special. F—Spotify’: On-Demand Streaming and the Controversy Over Artist Royalties. Creative Industries Journal 8 (2): 177–189.
McCarthy, C. 2006. Paris Hilton Showcases YouTube’s New ad Concepts [online]. CNET. Available from http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/paris-hilton-showcases-youtubes-new-ad-concepts/. Accessed 29 Feb 2016.
McCarthy, C. 2007. What Does CBS Want with Last.fm? [online]. CNET. Available from http://www.cnet.com/news/what-does-cbs-want-with-last-fm/. Accessed 25 Feb 2016.
McIntyre, H. 2015. Apple Music Has Lost 40% of Users After Its Free Trial—Forbes [online]. Forbes. Available from http://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2015/10/20/apple-music-has-lost-40-of-users-after-its-free-trial/#7e4e6d041c1c. Accessed 9 Feb 2016.
Medford, C. 2008. Report: Apple Killed Music Industry. Red Herring, 2–2.
Minsker, E. 2014. Indie Labels Unite to Launch ‘Fair Digital Deals Declaration’ Initiative [online]. Pitchfork. Available from http://pitchfork.com/news/55909-indie-labels-unite-to-launch-fair-digital-deals-declaration-initiative/. Accessed 25 July 2014.
Mitroff, S. 2015. Apple Music vs Spotify: What’s the Difference? [online]. CNET. Available from http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/apple-music-vs-spotify-whats-the-difference/. Accessed 9 Feb 2016.
Mulligan, M. 2017a. Announcing MIDiA’s Streaming Services Market Shares Report. Music Industry Blog.
Mulligan, M. 2017b. Amazon Is Now the 3rd Biggest Music Subscription Service. Music Industry Blog.
Nash, E. 2011. How Steve Jobs Saved the Music Industry. Wall Street Journal, October 21.
O’Brien, D.S., and B.F. Fitzgerald. 2006. Mashups, Remixes and Copyright Law. Internet Law Bulletin 9 (2): 17–19.
Page, W. 2013. Adventures in the Netherlands: New Spotify Study Sees Encouraging Downwards Trend in Music Piracy in the Netherlands. Spotify Press.
Pham, A. 2013a. The Evolution of iTunes: The Birth of a Colossus: The Creation of the World’s Biggest Music Retailer Seemed to Happen Almost in spite of the Record Labels, but They Knew a Good Thing When Steve Jobs Showed It to Them. Billboard 125 (17): 24.
Pham, A. 2013b. Vevo Pumps Up the Volume with More Than 1 Billion Monthly Views on Mulitple Platforms, Vevo Has Become Crucial. Billboard 125 (45): 36.
Pollack, W.M. 1999. Tuning In: The Future of Copyright Protection for Online Music in the Digital Millennium. Fordham Law Review 68: 2445.
Quan, M. 1999. SDMI Releases Portable-Player Spec [online]. EETimes. Available from http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1139861. Accessed 28 Feb 2016.
Reed, M. 2006. Publishers vs. YouTube: Does Either Side Win? [online]. USC Annenberg Online Journalism Review. Available from http://www.ojr.org/?s=Publishers+vs.+YouTube%3A+Does+Either+Side+Win. Accessed 22 Feb 2016.
Reuters. 2006. YouTube Serves Up 100 Million Videos a Day Online [online]. USA Today. Available from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-07-16-youtube-views_x.htm. Accessed 7 Aug 2014.
Rossow, C., D. Andriesse, T. Werner, B. Stone-Gross, D. Plohmann, C.J. Dietrich, and H. Bos. 2013. SoK: P2PWNED—Modeling and Evaluating the Resilience of Peer-to-Peer Botnets. In 2013 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy. Presented at the 2013 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, 97–111.
Rozat, P. 2011. Deezer: Profitability Down the Line? [online]. InaGlobal. Available from http://www.inaglobal.fr/en/music/article/deezer-profitability-down-line. Accessed 1 Feb 2018.
Samuel, M.C. 2014. Winds of Change. Journey of UK Music from the Old World to the New World. Review of Economic Research on Copyright Issues 11 (2): 27.
Sandoval, G. 2008. Source: Universal Music Group Plans ‘Hulu-Like’ Site [online]. CNET. Available from http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/source-universal-music-group-plans-hulu-like-site/. Accessed 24 July 2014.
Sassard, S. 2017. The French Music Streaming Service Taking on Spotify, Apple and Amazon [online]. The Independent. Available from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/deezer-music-streaming-spotify-amazon-apple-subscritpiton-hans-holger-albrecht-len-blavatnik-a7940896.html. Accessed 1 Feb 2018.
Sharpe, N.F., and O.B. Arewa. 2006. Is Apple Playing Fair—Navigating the iPod FairPlay DRM Controversy. Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property 5: 332.
Sheffner, B. 2011. The Antitrust Case Against Major Record Labels, in Perspective [online]. Billboard. Available from http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/1179723/the-antitrust-case-against-major-record-labels-in-perspective. Accessed 5 Aug 2014.
Sisario, B. 2014. Beats Music Enters Online Streaming Market—The New York Times [online]. Available from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12/arts/music/beats-music-enters-online-streaming-market.html. Accessed 28 Feb 2016.
Solon, O. 2013. Pirate Bay Interview: You Can’t Beat Politics with Technology Says Peter Sunde [online]. Wired UK. Available from http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-11/18/peter-sunde-hemlis-political-apathy. Accessed 7 Feb 2016.
Sparks, D. 2017. Apple Music Subscribers Hit 30 Million, but It’s Not as Impressive as It Sounds [online]. Business Insider. Available from http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-music-subscribers-30-million-2017-9. Accessed 15 Dec 2017.
Spotify. 2017. Fast Facts—Spotify. Spotify Press.
Sunde, P. 2015. The ‘Pirate Movement’ Is Dead. TorrentFreak.
TechRadar. 2006. Digital Music Award Winners Announced [online]. TechRadar. Available from http://www.techradar.com/news/portable-devices/other-devices/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/internet/web/audio/portable-audio/digital-music-award-winners-announced-159274. Accessed 23 Feb 2016.
The New York Times. 2007. CBS Buys Last.FM, an Online Radio Site. The New York Times, May 31.
Thorpe, V. 2015. Zane Lowe to leave BBC Radio 1 for Apple. The Guardian, February 15.
Turner, F. 2006. From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Twohey, M. 2000. Land of the Free and MP3. National Journal 32 (3): 182–183.
Tynan, D. 2006. The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time [online]. PCWorld. Available from http://www.pcworld.com/article/125772/worst_products_ever.html. Accessed 10 Feb 2016.
UK Music. 2016. Measuring Music 2016. London: UK Music. Available from https://www.ukmusic.org/assets/general/measuring-music-2016.pdf.
Viacom Newsroom. 2014. Viacom and Google Resolve Copyright Lawsuit [online]. Available from http://news.viacom.com/press-release/legal/viacom-and-google-resolve-copyright-lawsuit. Accessed 8 Aug 2014.
Webb, S.W. 2000. RIAA v Diamond Multimedia Systems: The Recording Industry Attempts to Slow the MP3 Revolution-Taking Aim at the Jogger Friendly Diamond Rio. Richmond Journal of Law & Technology 7: 5–34.
Weinman, J.J. 2011. How Jobs Rescued Old Media: Music Was Free Online, Until He Showed That People Still Wanted to Pay. Maclean’s 124 (41): 48.
Wikström, P. 2013. The Music Industry: Music in the Cloud, 2nd ed. Cambridge, England: Polity.
Wingfield, N., and E. Smith. 2007. Music’s New Gatekeeper. Wall Street Journal, March 9.
Wlömert, N., and D. Papies. 2016. On-Demand Streaming Services and Music Industry Revenues—Insights from Spotify’s Market Entry. International Journal of Research in Marketing 33 (2): 314–327.
Wu, T. 2003. When Code Isn’t Law. Virginia Law Review 89 (4): 679–751.
YouTube. 2006. YouTube Unveils New Advertising Concepts [online]. YouTube News Room. Available from http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/youtube-unveils-new-advertising-concepts-697771.htm. Accessed 29 Feb 2016.
Zhu, K., and B. Macquarrie. 2003. The Economics of Digital Bundling: The Impact of Digitization and Bundling on the Music Industry. Communications of the ACM 46 (9): 264–270.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sun, H. (2019). Evolution of Digital Music Services. In: Digital Revolution Tamed. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93022-0_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93022-0_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-93021-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-93022-0
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)