Mobile Behavior: an Omnicom Group Company

iTunes changed how music was discovered. Will services like Spotify and We7 revolutionize the collection and sharing of music? The future appears to be all about anywhere access through streaming, not hoarding.

Up-and-coming Swedish music startup Spotify is gaining traction in the mobile space as it strikes deals with mobile networks and releases applications across multiple platforms. The site relies on advertising and a paid premium service to provide users with unlimited free music. This simple cloud-based access to music from anywhere through our phones is changing the game—and our behavior.

Ownership of sound has come a long way, ever since it became possible to record it. With the MP3, Kazaa, and iTunes, people began hoarding music and asking their friends, "how many gigabytes of music do you have?" With Rhapsody and now Spotify—as well as We7 and Grooveshark—this entire competition to own the most or best disappears. You already "own" all the music. Downloading it almost seems like a waste of time. In Spotify, every song you ever wanted is available with a simple search and without a download.

Earlier this summer Pitchfork's Eric Harvey discussed the social history of the MP3 and the nature of collecting music. He supports his thoughts by talking to Evan Eisenberg about music as a thing.

"What exactly happened when music became a thing?" He starts answering it by introducing us to Clarence, an eccentric music lover who has packed every nook and cranny of his suburban home with records. Though he obsessively amasses records, Clarence does not view himself as a "collector." He explains: "My idea originally…was to share my collection with everybody. You see, collectors--take collectors of oil paintings--they don't do that; they only share with themselves. Share it with everybody!"

This privileging of sharing and universal access over ownership has been trending over the past few years. In 2008 MTV's MX2 study pointed to an insight around consumer music listening behavior: Owning is more and more about timely access and less about physical possession. There is a difference between being able to physically and forever own music like in 1997, and being able to hear it when you want to, now, and in the moment. This is why mobile streaming is the future of music consumption.

The Pirate Bay is on its way out, literally. Illegal downloading has been a disruptive force that points towards an unmet need and now innovative startups like Spotify, We7 and Grooveshark are here to solve it. For hardcore fans who want to own a “piece” of an artist, there will still be collector’s editions, t-shirts and other merchandise. However, anywhere access through on-demand mobile streaming is where music is heading for one key reason—it’s what consumers want. We expect to see much more adoption of these services in the next year as we enter a 4G world…