"Swoosh..did you hear that loud sucking sound?"
By Patrick Doyle
There are two major shifts going on right before our eyes, one social, one terrestrial. Ironically they happen to be merging & causing yet another shift. I'm speaking about Facebook, Spotify, and their latest integration with one another.
Facebook has taken over the web, and the very definition of what a website needs to be has been redefined. It's happened already, it's happening now right before our eyes. Websites that do not mesh the two are destined to die a rather fast death on the web. "Did you hear that loud sucking sound?" It's the sound of almost 1 billion active users visiting Facebook daily instead of your website, unless you "re-tool" it.
Ironically, Facebook can actually help your website traffic if you're smart, and you use your Facebook page(s) properly. Think about how many new "friends" you are making. If you have a way for your friends to learn about you or your products, and you have interaction between your website and your Facebook page, you have the best of both worlds. Right now, you can literally embed your entire website or shopping cart inside your Facebook Page. You can have Facebook contests that originate from your website become your Facebook landing page. The options available to webmasters and programmers are growing exponentially xt = x0(1 + r)t .
While Facebook has changed—permanently—the function of and demands for websites, Spotify has once and for all time changed radio and music distribution. I predict that by this time next year they will have destroyed iTunes’ revenue engine, single handedly minimized—if not eliminated—music piracy, launched the careers of a horde of new artists, and wiped out many Internet and terrestrial radio stations (unless they re-tooled in time). "Did you hear that loud sucking sound?" Why would you pirate music when it's free? Yes many of the options you would want are in the $9.95 monthly Unlimited plan but hey, what did you pay for that one physical CD last month? This is a "music on demand" library that is so vast, and the interface is so slick & easy, that you will be willing to pay more for it. It's the music deal of the century, literally.
Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon of Spotify have done what no one else has been able to do since the advent of digital music, namely find a way for the major record labels to carve out a potential future. I tried 20 years ago. That's how long it's taken. Daniel Ek is "Merlin reincarnate!"
With Spotify you literally have the world's music library at your fingertips, and you create your own radio stations (playlists). In sharing your playlists you have replaced the need to listen to radio stations, you are your own station and DJ!
Enter the next arena: merging social trends with music trends. Now that Spotify and Facebook have begun a well-conceived integration, look for interesting new developments. Imagine "Spotify DJ contests", Band exclusives, live and exclusive concerts & venues, Spotify in the car and home, apps and more apps, cross-faders & EQ remixing, page names like Facebook, and lots more!
I can’t imagine why a band, label or artist wouldn’t consider joining the Spotify bandwagon. It has the potential to become the largest listening audience the world has ever seen (or heard). If you simply love music then welcome to something even the "Jetsons" didn't have... Spotify!
"When the future speaks, will you listen..."