The digital music world continues to evolve towards a streamed, "access" model, over the traditional "ownership" approach.
Whether the music industry gets there through free, advertising-supported music streaming services or premium subscription models remains to be seen. But the impending launch of iTunes Radio points to a larger, inexorable trend towards "all you can eat" cloud-based music streaming, where mobility, multi-platform interoperability, social components (playlists and playlist sharing), and of course, a robust "catalog of hits, major artists, and newcomers" are the key differentiators.
Apple is of course not the only party in the pool here - Spotify is a shining example of this evolution done right. The size of Spotify's catalog is impressive, as is the integration of playlists and social networks like Facebook.
Apple's iTunes Radio is both a partial step in the direction of the "all you can eat" model and a very big move by the tech giant to create a more compelling, innovative streaming music environment for its equally impressive customer base.
Apple has, up to now, demonstrated caution in launching a streaming service, with the fear that over time such a move would likely cannibalize its big "a la carte" download business, which is still the very biggest piece of the digital music revenue mix. It's worth noting here that Apple is certainly not abandoning the a la carte approach - "deep linking" and "upselling" tracks that listeners like is a key feature and goal here, and it undoubtedly helps a major record label look more favorably at licensing a free, ad-supported streaming service.
iTunes Radio has some very cool, innovative pieces, too; the Siri voice integration, the "sliding bar" to help customize channels, Apple's curation of some channels, and the opportunity for iTunes Match subscribers to enjoy an "Advertising Free" version of the radio are all compelling reasons to believe it will be successful.
It's a big move by Apple to stay relevant and bring its consumers a compelling music environment - Apple is essentially saying they're willing to take a chance and stay competitive with Google's new music service and all of the other personalized radio or interactive streaming service - from Spotify to Xbox Music, or services like Slacker or even Rhapsody.
And with Apple's dominant position and massive base of active paying customers, they're certainly in a terrific position to bring a streaming service further into the mainstream than others.
Seth Schachner is managing director of Strat Americas, a leading global digital media consultancy.
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