Why Streaming Music Services Are Getting Bundled Up with Other Things

Streaming music services still haven’t penetrated the Canadian psyche as much as they have in the rest of the world–we’re 86th on the planet for streaming, apparently–but don’t kid yourself.  We’re all on the road to a place where access to music will trump possession.

While Canadians don’t have as many services to choose from as, say, the US or the UK, we can avail ourselves to Songza (full disclosure: I work for them), Rdio, Slacker, Deezer and a few others.  And like in other countries, we’re starting to see these music services bundled with other things (cf. Rdio’s just-announced deal with Shaw.)

And every cell phone provider is looking at the possibilities.  Why? Because it makes good strategic sense from a business and financial point of view.  Get a music service when I buy a phone and sign up for a package?  Cool! What a great way to (a) get people into the idea of music streaming; and (b) entice customers to switch/buy when it comes to mobile providers.

There’s plenty of bundling happening in the US.  Just yesterday, Sprint announced a deal with Spotify.  AT&T has a bundling deal with Beats.  And this is just the beginning.  Read more at Gizmodo.

(Thanks to Jason for the link.)