From Wired Magazine: Why Steve Jobs Will Never Offer Music Subscriptions
Jobs is right. There’s no mainstream demand for music subscriptions. The music business isn’t built on long-term rentals; it’s built on one hit after another. It’s confectionary. Tunes are addictive for a while and then discarded. It’s like the drug business: Users are always looking for the next hit.
I’m currently hooked on The Good, the Bad and the Queen — it’s all I want to listen to, all day, all night. I’m not interested in hearing any other music at the moment. There’s no sense “subscribing” to this album. I’d much rather buy it.
I just canceled my subscription to Microsoft’s Zune service after about three months as a subscriber. I finally realized that I’ll never change my music-consuming behavior to fit its business model.
It’s a good article and raises many good points. I’ve said it before, but the entertainment industry seems intent on trying to force consumers to use their business models regardless of whether or not the customers want it, and then use technology and the law to force their way of thinking rather than simply give the customers what they want. It seems to be the only industry in the world that goes out of its way to limit access to the products it sells.
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