Music in the Cloud

With the music industry in serious trouble, there are some interesting developments in using the 'cloud' as a vehicle for a new business model

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Apple has led the shift with iTunes as a successful music business. Now Amazon and Google are two big players that are offering a 'music in the cloud' service. However a new player has emerged with a variation of the cloud service to challenge the three big players. Spotify as been operating in Europe and has now launched in the USA. Spotify's big claim over the others is the offer of free music.

Explore the following websites:

http://www.apple.com/icloud/

http://www.apple.com/itunes/

http://music.google.com/about/

http://www.amazon.com/MP3-Music-Download/b?ie=UTF8&node=163856011

http://www.spotify.com/int/

Watch the following video:

http://youtu.be/ZrNhKcxBbZo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gng29RIhIl8

Read the news:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/piracy-fears-cloud-apple-launch/story-e6frg6nf-1226071294051

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/world/online-jukebox-spotify-valued-at-1bn/story-e6frg90o-1226009844746

http://www.news.com.au/technology/first-amazon-now-google-takes-music-to-the-cloud/story-e6frfro0-1226053947338

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/disciplines/digital/apple-set-to-unveil-cloud-music-service/3026936.article

Q1. What are some of the differences between the 'music in the cloud' offerings?

Q2. How can Spotify offer free music?

Q3. How do these services avoid the risk of 'piracy'?

They Know Where You Are and What You Like

Mobile phones and other mobile devices have the ability to determine the geographical position of the device at any time. As well, this position can be sent to somebody else via the internet. If this 'somebody' else is an advertiser or marketer then interesting opportunities for marketing arise.

Smartphones could soon reveal a person's every move

February 21, 2011

The Age - Julian Lee

"The ability to combine a person's location at any given time with which websites or mobile applications they have visited on their smartphone's browser is opening a new world of possibilities for marketers. Within the next year, half the mobile phones in use will be smartphones such as Apple's iPhone or Samsung's Galaxy, embedded with technology that can pinpoint your position to within a metre."

The director of mobile advertising at Google, Michael Slinger, says: ''Location will be one of the cornerstones of mobile advertising. Merging local businesses with mobile [advertising] is very, very important for us.''

Q1. What are the privacy issues?

Q2. What value is geo-positioning to the consumer?

Q3. Describe one way a business could use geo-positioning for marketing.

IPad!

Apple has just announced the iPad. Apple has a reputation for innovation and superb marketing. Apple has had great success with the iPhone and the iPod. However Apple are usually not the first to launch a new product. MP3 players were around before the iPod and 'smart' phones were also available before the iPhone (e.g. Blackberry).

Apple's success is due to its ability to innovate with existing technology, extend it and market it effectively. A key factor in the success of the iPod has been the linkages with iTunes. Similarly, the iPhone linkage with Apple Web Apps (http://www.apple.com/iphone/apps-for-iphone/) has greatly increased the iPhone's attraction.

Q1. Who is the target market for the iPad?

Q2. What makes Apple marketing so effective?

Q3. How is the iPad differentiated from the iPhone, Kindle and netbooks?

The Mobile Web Is Here!!!!

Access to the internet has traditionally been through some sort of cable. Access via satellite is possible if you carry around a satellite dish! Wireless LANS now provide a wireless access within a short range to an internet modem or other wireless receiver that then connects via a cable. If you were clever enough you could connect a laptop to a mobile phone via a modem and use the mobile phone network for a slow and costly wireless internet access.

Recently true wireless, mobile internet access has become available via the mobile phone network that support high speed broadband. The major telecos provide a wireless adaptor that can plug into a laptop USB port and connect you at relatively high speed to the internet (at a higher cost than fixed line connection). One provider is :Telstra Bigpond

But wait there is more! The mobile phone can now connect directly to the internet and provide web browsing, email and most other internet services. This provided via the new 3G network.

A simple problem is that a mobile phone does not have the screen size or keyboard of laptop computer. This is a real marketing challenge!

Meg Tsiamis in her blog Dipping Into The Blogpond has provided a listing of web sites that are designed for mobile phone web browsing. Check out these two from her listing (remember that they are designed to appear in a mobile phone screen) :

http://mobile.tradingpost.com.au/
http://carsguide.mobi

1. How does the iPhone and similar devices attempt to overcome the design limitations?
2. What is the issue for SMEs to provide mobile internet access to their web sites?
3. What are the issues and impact on marketing using mobile internet?