Here Comes the Surge in Streaming Music Service Use in Canada
From today’s Globe and Mail:
A host of new, subscription-based music streaming services are entering the Canadian market, but a central question remains unanswered: Does the industry actually make money?
“It’s a great question,” says Greg Nisbet, CEO of Canadian music-streaming technology provider MediaZoic. “And I don’t think the market has answered it yet.”
By one estimate, from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, streaming music revenue jumped about 50 per cent last year, while digital music downloads dropped 2 per cent. That shift in consumer preference has attracted the attention of the biggest names in technology, including Google Inc. and Apple Inc.
Now, after largely ignoring the country for years, many of those services are starting to come to Canada. Most recently, Spotify, one of the Internet’s biggest streaming music services, launched an invitation-only preview of its Canadian site, with plans to open it up to all users soon. Spotify joins a growing list of companies that have also launched Canadian streaming music sites, such as Songza and Google (which purchased Songza in June).
