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VIDEOBlackBerry to Replace iTunes?
By
Scott Reeves Feb 23, 2009 3:15 pm
Brief scrutiny of today's headlines.
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The download made the compact disc a candidate for the Smithsonian; the BlackBerry, manufactured by Research in Motion (RIMM), may soon allow listeners to tap into individual playlists through subscription radio services like Slacker.com, the Wall Street Journal reports.
An individual playlist would make buying downloads from carriers like Amazon (AMZN) or iTunes (AAPL) unnecessary, because the listener could retrieve music on demand via cloud computing.
Slacker subscribers pay $3.99 a month. They can select favorite songs or groups and play them on what amounts to a customized radio station. A flash memory card in each BlackBerry allows users to store several hundred songs from Slacker, even when not connected to the phone service.
The next step: Cloud computing could allow a user to build extensive playlists in rock, jazz, blues, show tunes, 1960s, classical - you name it.
It's not difficult to imagine the smartphone replacing the personal computer as the go-to point for Internet media. Toss in credit- and debit-card processing to go with voice and e-mail, and the smartphone suddenly becomes a "must-have" item, boosting the appeal of offerings from Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T).
Somewhere on the way to this brave new world, recording companies need to come up with smartphone applications that optimize access to their catalogues - and increase royalties. That might include different versions of the same song - original, karaoke, easy listening, and a kids' version free of references to drugs, sex and violence.
Paying upfront for musical downloads could be the next innovation bound for the museum.
Recording labels may have to develop a new business model - or vanish.
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