If you've been following trends in downloading music over the last decade, then you know that Napster -- once the haven for free peer-to-peer sharing -- now is a subsidiary of Best Buy, and has developed a business model initially dependent on users' paying 15 dollars a month to listen to as much music as they'd like (with a la carte mp3 purchases available as well). In the last month, Napster has slashed its price to five dollars per month, with five free mp3s thrown in the bargain ... another sign of trouble in the long-suffering world of online music-by-subscription.
Is anyone offering music via that method and doing well? Yes, says this article in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times: it's Naxos, the independent classical label. The Naxos Music Library, available at about $20 per month, is targeting America's colleges, universities, and public-school systems, and has been tapped by hundreds of thousands of music students, educators, and musicians.
It seems to be a glimmer of hope not just for the preservation of the online-music-subscription business model, but also for the longevity of classical music in the American consciousness. What do you think?
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John,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great ending to your post! We here at Naxos strive to bring the best in Classical music to all walks of life, and it's words like this that only help our cause.
Many schools, Orchestras, and Libraries across the world are bringing Bach, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff to folks young and old.
A great read!
-Nick
John - what a great blog! I am guilty of using Pandora.com for most of my pop/rock addiction, but will have to sign up for Napster or Rhapsody. Have you heard anything positive or negative about them?
ReplyDeleteI used the Naxos Music Library in college and am now working for them. It has been a lot of fun learning about new composers and their music! Do you use the NML at all? What's your favorite discovery so far?