Early on, the single introduced music to kids.
It was a cheap way to decide which albums to buy. Many argue that the single helped establish a record buying habit in youth that would carry on for the rest of their lives.
Today, kids use YouTube and file sharing as a cheap why to decide which singles to buy, and well, “not" buy. A new music service called Psonar is hoping to achieve a similar feat, to offer fans a cheap way to listen to music in general. For a Cent per play, the service will let users stream any song they want. They can 'pay as they go' or buy 5$ worth, i.e. 500 streams. It also lets friends “gift" playlists to each other.
Psonar has an interesting business model; it aims to position itself between the gray area of buying songs or paying a monthly fee to a subscription service. In some ways, the service does target kids that are looking for a cheap and legal method to consume music. A Cent per play doesn't seem like too much to ask.
The only difficulty that Psonar will face is that kids now have access to a glut of free ways to access music and they're learning about the services early on.
Music piracy, as a practice, has proven that it doesn't die; it just evolves.
As much as we'd like kids, as well as others, to take up a 'pay as you go' music service, many have been conditioned to believe that music streaming should also be free, ad-supported, and always available. The idea that kids should pay a Cent per stream feels like the single reborn, a way for to kids to discover music, but it feels too late to game to matter. Time will tell if 'pay as you go' music takes off.
Psonar has secured a deal with The Orchard, but has is yet to seal agreements with the major labels. The company plans to launch first in Ireland and Canada.
Then, it plans to expand to the closest proxies which are UK and the US.
It was a cheap way to decide which albums to buy. Many argue that the single helped establish a record buying habit in youth that would carry on for the rest of their lives.
Today, kids use YouTube and file sharing as a cheap why to decide which singles to buy, and well, “not" buy. A new music service called Psonar is hoping to achieve a similar feat, to offer fans a cheap way to listen to music in general. For a Cent per play, the service will let users stream any song they want. They can 'pay as they go' or buy 5$ worth, i.e. 500 streams. It also lets friends “gift" playlists to each other.
Psonar has an interesting business model; it aims to position itself between the gray area of buying songs or paying a monthly fee to a subscription service. In some ways, the service does target kids that are looking for a cheap and legal method to consume music. A Cent per play doesn't seem like too much to ask.
The only difficulty that Psonar will face is that kids now have access to a glut of free ways to access music and they're learning about the services early on.
Music piracy, as a practice, has proven that it doesn't die; it just evolves.
As much as we'd like kids, as well as others, to take up a 'pay as you go' music service, many have been conditioned to believe that music streaming should also be free, ad-supported, and always available. The idea that kids should pay a Cent per stream feels like the single reborn, a way for to kids to discover music, but it feels too late to game to matter. Time will tell if 'pay as you go' music takes off.
Psonar has secured a deal with The Orchard, but has is yet to seal agreements with the major labels. The company plans to launch first in Ireland and Canada.
Then, it plans to expand to the closest proxies which are UK and the US.
