Thumbplay Could Prove to be a Contender, if We Knew Their Real Numbers

Earlier this week, Thumbplay announced that it had reached an impressive 500,000 downloads of it's music application which has been available on Android, Apple and BlackBerry platforms since June. With 8 million+ tracks from all four major labels and most indies, plus a truly portable app, Thumbplay has the potential to be a real contender in the growing streaming market. We can't tell how much of a contender, unfortunately, because the company isn't sharing how many users convert from the 3 day free trial to actually paying for a subscription. They did share some early key usage and demographic data:

• Nearly 70% of Thumbplay Music users are male
• The largest user group is 25㬞-years-old, followed closely by 35㬨-year-olds
• 90% of the music is streamed to smartphones vs. PCs/Macs
• 95% of the music streamed is from Thumbplay's long tail catalog (that is, individual songs outside Thumbplay's Top 20 most-played songs)

Thumbplay Music usage ranking by platform
(June 1—October 1, 2010):

1.     Apple㬣%
2.     BlackBerry㬠%
3.     Android㬕%

Top 5 devices playing Thumbplay Music
(in rank order, June 1—October 1, 2010):

1.     iPhone
2.     BlackBerry 8530
3.     iPod Touch
4.     Motorola Droid
5.     BlackBerry 8520