Why Google Was Able to Beat Apple to a Music Streaming Service

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Posted May 17, 2013 at 5:45pm by iClarified

Earlier this week, Google launched a new 'All Access' music subscription service while Apple is still said to be in negotiations with music labels for iRadio. A new report from the Verge offers some insight as to why Apple is having a harder time with licensing agreements for its service.

A major difference between the two is that Google chose to offer a service similar to Spotify and Rdio. Thus, terms for the service type had largely been established. Apple on the other hand is looking to create a hybrid web and radio service more similar to Pandora but with some on-demand features.

"Of course [Apple's] negotiations were going to take longer," said one source.

Additionally, Google was willing to pay advances to some of the major copyright owners; however, Apple traditionally is unwilling to do that and at least initially didn't offer any advances. The company has agreed to pay content owners a share of the ad revenue, a per-play fee, and a minimum guarantee.

The report notes that Spotify-like subscription services are more lucrative for labels than radio services such as Pandora; stating, that if iRadio was a clone of Pandora it would never get licensed.

While Apple has differentiated itself from Pandora, Sony/ATV, the largest music publisher, has reportedly rejected Apple's terms and The Verge has learned that BMG Rights Management is also holding out. That being said, some of the industry's largest players are apparently excited about the service and would like to see it launch as soon as possible.

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Why Google Was Able to Beat Apple to a Music Streaming Service

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522b9cf - May 21, 2013 at 2:16pm

These days I'm just shocked to see Google beat anyone to anything... Google Drive? Cloud storage?! Only like half a decade behind everyone on the planet. After like, their 8th try, their attempt at a viable social networking platform, I think it's safe to say by now- massive fail. You've gotta know when to fold, fellows! You have to admire their tenacity, at least. In all truth, they pioneered webmail; at least making it something that was widely adopted and used for something other than a spam account. After that, I think it's been pretty downhill. They have diversity of services, but save Gmail, I personally would and do use other sites/companies for everything else. Naturally it's pure opinion, but Picasa is trash... Google Drive was obsolete hitting the floor because by the time it actually came out, I was too vested in other cloud storage sites like Dropbox and Box (for its sheer capacity, 50GB). The ONE service that I found indispensable, Google Reader, they've canned (ironic that they got rid of the one service that made them actually useful to many people)... cause RSS is for old people like me- or people that actually know what "RSS feeds" are... it's not sustainable, obviously. It's not because it's "obsolete tech", though- it's because 95% of Internet users are just ignorant to these types of things. I'm quite sure that most people using readers or content syndication viewers have no idea that RSS feeds are behind those pretty looking news readers... Good job Google! "Your sacred sow has been- slaughtered!" (Note: all of the above is discounting Gmail, which is obviously a win for them... as well as nuance services that are only of interest/value to a small percentage of overall users. Like RSS feeds which I included from this exclusion...) Hey, it's my comment. I'll bend the truth to my needs as I see fit! ;)

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NoGoodNick - May 18, 2013 at 3:32am

More likely, once they launch their service, the other services will jump on board, afraid they'll miss out. Don't forget, while Android sells more units, they make less because of price, and they don't sell anywhere near the volume of material. It didn't take a lot to convince the various book publishers to abandon Amazon!

Jewlia - May 17, 2013 at 9:11pm

Hehehe once again showing how stubborn apple is. But once they do release their music service they'll sure brainwash their following into thinking they have the best like they always do with their products.